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The Fifth Season · Remember Why You Are Here

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  This is really a good time to come off the high of summer,
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  reestablish this pattern of nourishing yourself so you can move forward into the
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  deep and reflective work of fall.
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  Hello and welcome back to Remember Why You're Here,
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  a podcast for seekers and sensitives where you can relax, receive,
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  reconnect yourself, and remember that most important thing of all,
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  why you're here. I'm Asia Suler, author,
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  Earth Intuitive teacher,
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  and I wanted to come in today as I'm on a little bit of a summer break right
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  now. The past few weeks I've been releasing some audio episodes,
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  taking a little bit of a break from filming the video part of this podcast as we
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  transition to school time for my daughter and out of vacation mode.
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  Perhaps you're in that transitional mode as well.
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  And I notice a theme this time of the year is that there is a lot of
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  transition. It's almost like we're not quite in summer,
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  but we're also not quite in fall yet. And as it happens,
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  there is a season for this.
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  This season is accounted for in the Chinese medicine way of
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  looking at existence. So I love this,
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  and I wanted to step back into this understanding by revisiting this
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  audio called the Fifth Season.
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  So most of us grew up in cultures where we have four seasons,
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  even if those four seasons barely fit the seasons that we live in.
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  But most people are familiar with summer, fall, winter,
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  spring. And yet, I don't know if you feel this,
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  but right now as we're approaching the end of August,
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  it's like we're entering into this whole other vibe. It's not summer,
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  it's not fall. We're deep in transition.
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  We're moving out of all the schedule changes,
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  all the routine changes of summer and back into something that feels a little
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  bit more routined. It's like the heat is still here,
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  but we're having these glimpses of cool nights.
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  This tends to be here where we live in Appalachia this time where kind of the
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  mold starts to settle in. There's a dampness to this period of time.
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  So it has its own whole character and quality.
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  And this is why I love in this model of the Chinese medicine model,
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  this model of the fifth season,
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  that there is actually five seasons and there is a new season that
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  is just starting now.
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  So if you've never heard of this concept of the fifth season,
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  it might really help you make some sense of why this feels different than
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  summer or fall. It feels like something in between.
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  So I encourage you to get your oat milk latte,
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  whatever it is that feels nourishing for you today,
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  and to tune in and listen to this audio revisit of the fifth
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  season.
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  Each season that we enter and cycle through has its own innate medicine.
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  And when we can connect into the subtlety of that season and its particular
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  character, we can receive the different medicine that it's bringing to us.
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  There is a little known fifth season in the Chinese way
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  of thinking about the wheel of the year.
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  This is your introduction to the medicine of the fifth season late
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  summer. In Chinese medicine,
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  there are five seasons and these seasons are reflective of the cycle of growth
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  from seed to bloom to decay to rest to rebirth.
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  Right now we've entered the fifth season, which is called late summer.
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  And it starts around mid to late August until the September equinox.
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  So a lot of times in our country, we'll call this Indian summer.
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  And as I'm saying this,
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  you might be having a particular remembrance or awareness of how this
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  season really is different than the others.
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  It's this transition into the fall time with these still sort of hot
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  flash days.
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  There is a distinct change that happens from summer into this
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  Indian summertime before we actually hit the fullness of fall.
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  So in the Chinese way of thinking,
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  this is actually its own whole season with its own particular qualities in
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  medicine.
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  Late summer is the time of the earth element in Chinese
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  medicine. So the earth element is all about grounding,
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  rootedness. This is also at the very center of the five cycle season.
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  So this season is oftentimes about creating a home,
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  finding stability,
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  and you see this reflected in our patterning around this time.
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  This is often when people are going back to work, going back to school,
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  maybe setting new goals for themselves,
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  and all of these are good activities to have at the center of your altar during
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  this late summertime.
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  This is also the transition from the real yang of summertime,
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  this real outward fire, to the yin of fall and winter.
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  So you might find during this time that you begin to have some moments of
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  exhaustion or tiredness.
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  This is really your body's way of saying that it's time to transition from the
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  overexertion of summer and start to cool into this yin
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  phase.
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  The earth element is always going to help us to understand how to
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  slow down and nourish and take care of our bodies.
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  So this is a really good period of time to start developing a really
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  nourishing practice of your food and your diet and your self-care.
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  Not coincidentally,
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  the organs associated with this time are the stomach and spleen.
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  So these are the organs of digestions, but not just physical digestion.
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  We're also talking about here like mental and emotional digestion.
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  This is a time to start digesting all of the busyness of summertime
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  and really begin to process that so you can move into the deeply
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  reflective time of fall.
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  Fall is often the time of doing this inner work and preparing for
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  wintertime. It's a time of deep nostalgia and remembrance.
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  So in late summer, we begin to process, digest,
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  and break down everything that's happened so far in this year in this growth
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  cycle so we can prepare for the quieting down of fall.
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  When earth is in balance, we're going to feel really nurtured.
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  We're going to be feeling really capable and really solid in our
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  calm awareness and knowing. When earth is out of balance,
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  you might experience worry or having your thoughts sort of roll a million
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  miles a minute. So if these things are happening to you during this time,
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  just know that it would be a good moment for you to step back and really focus
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  on nourishing your earth. How do we nourish our earth? Well,
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  first of all, creating time in your schedule for meditation, relaxation.
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  Sometimes I find schedules really help me with my earth element,
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  especially if you're embarking upon a new course of study this year or a brand
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  new job to really write out a schedule for yourself.
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  When are you going to be engaged in that and when can you have downtime?
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  Late summer is a really good time to start engaging with this.
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  The colors of late summer are orange and yellow,
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  and the taste is slightly sweet.
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  So if you want some herbs to really help you sink into this time,
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  there are a couple that really fit this profile beautifully,
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  and they include shatavari, licorice, astragalus,
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  and oat straw. You're going to notice some commonalities between these herbs.
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  They're slightly sweet. They're nourishing.
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  Some of them are actually pretty high in mineral and vitamin content,
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  and all of them have this way of working with our nervous system to help us
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  slightly relax. Some of them are considered even adaptogens,
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  which really is a term for helping our bodies, hearts,
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  and minds and physiological systems adapt to any stresses that are coming our
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  way. So this is really a good time to come off the high of summer,
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  reestablish this pattern of nourishing yourself so you can move forward into the
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  deep and reflective work of fall.
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  So I'm super curious if this was new to you or if you know about
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  this fifth season already. I remember when I learned about this,
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  it kind of just unlocked this new layer to life and
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  existence because when we understand what season we're in,
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  we understand how to meet this season.
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  We see that in the earth element of this season,
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  we're really being asked actually to start to slow our role
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  from the summer intensity and the summer busyness that we are going to be
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  stepping into a little bit more reflective time,
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  that we're really in this season of becoming where we're
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  going from experience after experience into more of the
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  wisdom states that come with fall and winter.
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  And so we see here that earth also has this completion
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  energy.
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  There's this sense of bringing us into completion,
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  digesting what's happened so far throughout the year,
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  and really kind of preparing and orienting ourselves for what's to come.
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  And I love thinking about in my own ancestral traditions and the Celtic Wheel of
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  the Year that a new year is considered to begin after Samhain,
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  which is at the end of October. And so in the Celtic way of thinking,
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  we're actually entering into the last phase of the year
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  before a new year begins.
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  And so some of these moments of reflection and digestion
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  of coming back into a rhythm that works for us,
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  this is all important in preparing to meet the changes,
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  meet the new year that is en route.
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  So in any way that you can to create some stability and groundedness
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  for yourself this month, I did in the intuitive reading for this month,
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  talk about this sense of stability coming in, this building energy.
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  And so this feels like it's right on time for this particular week,
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  for this particular time now that we are moving into in late
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  August, that it's like get the routine, figure out what works for you this fall,
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  figure out the fall schedule,
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  figure out how you can ground yourself even as you continue to take these big
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  steps into your life, into what it is you want to manifest in this world.
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  I know for myself,
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  I'm getting ready to make a big announcement about a new
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  offering in my business, returning to some one-on-one work.
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  So if you're interested in that, that will be coming out shortly.
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  And I know that all of y'all probably have some really big new things that
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  you've been working on too. So I would love to hear from you.
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  I'd love to hear about how this fifth season is feeling for
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  you right now. What in this fifth season are you centering in?
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  What are you grounding in this fifth season?
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  You can hop on over to the Substack companion to this podcast.
• 11:35
  Remember why you are here, or you can leave me a message over on my website,
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  asiasuler.com/remember.
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  So I hope the transition of this time finds you able to get your
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  two feet on the ground,
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  able to sort of glimpse and see this perspective of your future,
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  a new future on root,
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  whatever it is that you are stepping into this fall and beyond.
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  And may all these nourishing energies of late
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  summer, this fifth season,
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  may they come in and help you remember that most important thing of all,
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  why you're here.