Autumn Equinox (秋分) | Finding Balance as the Seasons Turn

For a brief moment in the turning of the year, day and night come close to balance.

The Autumn Equinox (秋分, Qiufen) is the sixteenth of China’s twenty-four solar terms. Its Chinese name literally means “dividing autumn”: traditionally, it marks the midpoint of the season, when the warmth of summer has faded and the cooler days of late autumn lie ahead.

It is a season poised between two halves — light and darkness, warmth and cold, growth and rest.

Perhaps that is why the Autumn Equinox feels like a natural moment to think about balance.

There Is a Time for Everything

Nature does not remain in full bloom throughout the year.

Spring brings beginnings. Summer encourages growth. Autumn brings harvest, while winter allows the earth to rest.

Each has its place.

Our lives have seasons too. There are times when we move forward with energy and confidence, and others when we need to slow down. There are moments for speaking and moments for listening; times to hold on and times to let go.

Balance does not necessarily mean keeping everything perfectly equal. Sometimes it simply means recognising what is needed at a particular moment.

Making Space to Listen

This idea is especially meaningful when we think about relationships.

Families are shaped by different experiences and memories. People raised across countries and cultures may understand ideas such as home, identity and belonging in very different ways. Even people who love one another deeply do not always see the same story from the same perspective.

Building understanding therefore requires more than speaking. It also requires making space for another person’s experience.

At The Mothers’ Bridge of Love, we encounter this in conversations between generations, cultures, adoptive families and adoptees. There may not always be one simple answer. What matters is creating room for different voices to be heard with openness and respect.

Sometimes, understanding begins not with finding the right words, but with listening.

Halfway Through Autumn

After the Autumn Equinox, the nights gradually grow longer and the year moves towards its quieter months.

Before that happens, Qiufen offers us a moment in between — a chance to notice where we are, appreciate what the year has already brought, and consider what deserves our attention in the months ahead.

Perhaps there is someone we need to listen to more carefully.

Perhaps there is something we have been carrying that we can finally put down.

Or perhaps we simply need to give ourselves permission to slow down as the season changes.

This Autumn Equinox, MBL celebrates the value of balance: between speaking and listening, giving and receiving, remembering the past and making space for what comes next.

As day and night meet in balance, may we find a little more balance in ourselves — and a little more understanding in one another.