Elul, Rahamim, Teshuva - Introduction

(ב) אֲנִ֥י יְשֵׁנָ֖ה וְלִבִּ֣י עֵ֑ר ק֣וֹל ׀ דּוֹדִ֣י דוֹפֵ֗ק פִּתְחִי־לִ֞י אֲחֹתִ֤י רַעְיָתִי֙ יוֹנָתִ֣י תַמָּתִ֔י שֶׁרֹּאשִׁי֙ נִמְלָא־טָ֔ל קְוֻּצּוֹתַ֖י רְסִ֥יסֵי לָֽיְלָה׃

Song of Songs 5:2

(2) I sleep, but my heart waketh; Hark! my beloved knocketh: ‘Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled; For my head is filled with dew, My locks with the drops of the night.’

Elul has the quality of Rachamim - "The month of Rachamim" in Chazal. Why?
The giving of the first tablets completes, and the golden calf is made (Exodus 32:1) on 17 Tammuz. 40 days elapse, and God tells Moshe to carve new tablets (Exodus 34:1) - Moshe ascends the mountain on the first day of Elul. The second tablets are completed on Yom Kippur.
Interesting that the second giving of the Torah took 40 days, even though Moshe had already spent 40 days receiving the first tablets. פסל לך in 34:1 having overtones of "invalidate" the first ones.
Similar to the two stories of creation - the first one being about conquering, the second one being about process. אלא invalidates the first.

בראשית ב׳:ד׳

(ד) אֵ֣לֶּה תוֹלְד֧וֹת הַשָּׁמַ֛יִם וְהָאָ֖רֶץ בְּהִבָּֽרְאָ֑ם בְּי֗וֹם עֲשׂ֛וֹת יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶ֥רֶץ וְשָׁמָֽיִם׃

Genesis 2:4

(4) These are the generations of the heaven and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven.

שמות רבה א׳:ב׳

(ב) דבר אחר: ואלה שמות אמר רבי אבהו: כל מקום שאמר: אלה - פסל את הראשונים. ואלה - מוסיף שבח על הראשונים. (בראשית ב, ד): אלה תולדות השמים והארץ, פסל לתהו ובוהו. ואלה שמות, הוסיף שבח על שבעים נפש שנאמרו למעלה, שכולם היו צדיקים:

Shemot Rabbah 1:2

(2) Furthermore: "And these are the names..." Rabbi Abahu said: Whenever the text states "These" (eileh), it comes to contrast the preceding text. "And these" (ve-eileh) connotes addition to the preceding remarks. "These are the stories of the heavens and earth", comes to constrast the "chaos and void". "And these are the names" comes to add praise to the seventy people (in Jacob's household that descended into Egypt) mentioned above, in that all of them were righteous.

The first luhot had no room for us, no room for the individual, no room for relationship, no room for Tov.

אור חדש, הקדמה א ב׳

ועוד בשביל כך היה כופה עליהם הר כגיגית כדי שיהיו אנוסים שהיה מאנס אותם על קבלת התורה וכיון שהיו ישראל אנוסים ובמאנס כתיב (דברים כב, כט) לא יוכל לשלחה כל ימיו וכן לא יפרד ישראל מן הש"י לעולם וכך אמרו במדרש (מביאו רבינו בספרו גור אריה ומובא גם בספר מנחה בלולה ומקורו לא ידוע)

Ohr Chadash, Introduction to Ohr Chadash 2

...

The second luhot are a transition to Rachamim, like the second creation story. The world can not last with only the Middat haDin. It's the difference between being given something vs. working something out. If it's given to you, you don't really possess it. Perhaps you have conquered it, but you haven't integrated it. There's a stench of death around being given something complete - there individual isn't there. The thing that's missing in creation with Middat haDin is the other.

רש"י על בראשית א׳:א׳:ג׳

(ג) ברא אלהים. ולא אמר ברא ה', שבתחלה עלה במחשבה לבראתו במדת הדין, ראה שאין העולם מתקים, הקדים מדת רחמים ושתפה למדת הדין, היינו דכתיב (להלן ב ד) ביום עשות ה' אלהים ארץ ושמים:

Rashi on Genesis 1:1:3

(3) God (Elohim - God's name traditionally associated with His trait of strict judgment) created: And it did not state, 'the Lord' (God's name traditionally associated with His trait of mercy). Since, at first, it came up in [His] thought to create [the world] with the trait of strict justice, [and] He saw that the world [would] not [be able to] exist; [so] He brought the trait of mercy in front and combined it with the trait of strict justice. Concerning this is it written (Genesis 2:4), "on the day that the Lord, God, made earth and heavens."

Rachimim is the assertion of the divine that the processes through which you pass are your creation and that those processes are always open.

רש"י על דברים י״ח:י״ג:א׳

(א) תמים תהיה עם ה' אלהיך. התהלך עמו בתמימות ותצפה לו ולא תחקור אחר העתידות, אלא כל מה שיבא עליך קבל בתמימות ואז תהיה עמו ולחלקו:

Rashi on Deuteronomy 18:13:1

(1) "Be pure with the LORD your God." Walk with God in purity and look only to him. Do not look to future events; rather, accept with equanimity whatever God brings you - in order to be "with" God and with God's portion.

התהלך עמו בתמימות - The התהלך - embracing your autonomous guidance as your own life.

בראשית י״ז:א׳

(א) וַיְהִ֣י אַבְרָ֔ם בֶּן־תִּשְׁעִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה וְתֵ֣שַׁע שָׁנִ֑ים וַיֵּרָ֨א יְהוָ֜ה אֶל־אַבְרָ֗ם וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֵלָיו֙ אֲנִי־אֵ֣ל שַׁדַּ֔י הִתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ לְפָנַ֖י וֶהְיֵ֥ה תָמִֽים׃

Genesis 17:1

(1) And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him: ‘I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be thou wholehearted.

רש"י על בראשית י״ב:א׳:א׳

(א) לך לך. להנאתך ולטובתך, ושם אעשך לגוי גדול, וכאן אי אתה זוכה לבנים ועוד שאודיע טבעך בעולם:

Rashi on Genesis 12:1:1

(1) "Go, yourself" - For your benefit, and for your own good, and there I will make you into a great nation. Here you will not merit children. And what's more, I will let the world know all about you.

It starts with לך לך and grows into התהלך בתמימות.
We're being called to develop our own guidance system.
The self-benefit here is not self-centered. Your growth into your potential is good for the world and for you.
Shem Hashem is the name of Rachamim, and it graphically embodies the male and female. The work is in connection, in co-creation.
Faced with a decision between two paths - sometimes it's a moral question - and sometimes it's an opportunity for you to create reality and create yourself. There is no 'right' answer, there is only what you choose to create.