The Time Change Tonight Isn’t About Light. It’s About Thresholds We Don’t Choose
Some crossings we decide. Others happen to us. Here is how I am processing this the day after Samhain
Tonight the clocks fall back (at least in much of the US). Tomorrow morning will be darker, not because anything changed in the natural world, but because we decided to shift the numbers on our devices.
This is a threshold we didn’t choose. It happens to us twice a year, a relic from an era that believed changing time would save fuel or help farmers. The evidence suggests neither is accurate, yet we still put up with it.
Yesterday was Samhain, the threshold I chose to mark. Today is Saturday, the day after, and tonight is another threshold—one that arrives whether I’m ready or not.
Some thresholds we choose: getting a degree, getting married, building an ancestor altar, moving to a new city. We prepare for these. We know they’re coming. We feel the weight of the decision.
Other thresholds arrive without our willing them. The time change tonight. A shift in work priorities. Government changes that ripple through our lives. Being in the right place at the right time and getting intellectually challenged in a way that changes us without expecting anything to happen.
As a lifelong educator, these unchosen thresholds fascinate me most—the crossings we don’t see coming until we’re already on the other side.
It’s deceptively beautiful outside today after days of storms and wind and rain. In many ways this reminds me of climate change. When people look out the window, whatever they see becomes their frame of reference for everything they do. Today looks fine. Tomorrow the darkness comes an hour earlier.
Both things are true.
As we barrel toward Thanksgiving and Christmas, the next two months where everybody focuses on upcoming holidays, endless shopping and hoped-for deals, with the end of the year right around the corner.
I’m grounded by yesterday’s reflection, but I’ll need all of that grounding to get through what comes next.
The dramatic moment of crossing a threshold gets all the attention. But the interesting part is what happens after, just living in the reality that’s already changed, whether you chose it or not.
Tomorrow morning, the darkness comes earlier. I didn’t choose this threshold. But I’m crossing it anyway.
What thresholds are you crossing right now—chosen or unchosen?
How are you living in the reality that’s already changed?
Reply and let me know. I’m crossing this one alongside you.
Walking into tomorrow’s earlier darkness,
Jeffrey
P.S. This week I’ve been writing about thresholds, darkness, and the seasonal shift into the dark half of the year. If you’re interested in learning more about contemplative walking as spiritual practice, or about joining the Le Puy Camino contemplative walking retreat in September 2026 where we’ll explore these themes of transition and natural rhythms, subscribe to receive my weekly reflections.