fall – Adamant About Beauty

I know, I know, it is still summer for 10 more days. Yet in my heart, autumn has arrived. I love fall for so many reasons… the changing foliage, my birthday, sweaters, boots, pumpkins, richer moisturizers.

I also love fall because with it comes the feeling of a New Year – like the start of a New School Year, with all of the possibilities and opportunities (and new office supplies) that come with that feeling.

Here are my fall rituals.

1.Spring cleaning. I am purging old papers (and you know my love of paper), making room for new, embracing the feeling of lightness.

2. Goal setting. The arrival of fall is a reminder that there are only 110 days left in the calendar year. That’s 110 opportunities to check things off my list and accomplish what I set out to do January 1^st.

3.(Mental) Space clearing. During fall, trees let go of their leaves, releasing the old, to make room for new buds. Following their example, I work to let go of something I no longer need, be it a feeling, an obligation, a regret.

4. Seed planting (not literally). Fall is a time of incubation… seeds of ideas planted now will bloom next spring. I make myself take time for creative thinking and brainstorming.

How do you celebrate the arrival of fall?

As has become a tradition on Labor Day, I am sitting at the kitchen bar, planning, thinking, working, inspired by the incomprehensible cooking activity happening around me: shrimp is being boiled, ribs are being smoked, burgers are being shaped, corn is being buttered (thank you Caitlin and Josh). Meanwhile, enjoying leftover smells of eggs, grits, and bacon that were consumed a couple of hours ago, I am preparing my fall.

I have written about my attachment to “back to school” and the adult version of it, “back to fall” as I have come to think of it. This is how today I celebrated this Labor Day:

Reviewing the goals I wrote down the first week of January, checking things off, highlighting things which have yet to be accomplished.
Making a new goal sheet (using my 9-grid pad of course) to remind myself of my priorities for the coming four months.
Sorting my email inbox both chronologically and by sender, and went through each of my 1,167 emails. Result: I am down to 872.
Tackling one item on my never-ending to-do list that has been weighing on me for over a month. And I feel so much lighter for it.
Reviewing the list of “things that make me happy.” It’s a list that came out of my accountability group – a list that serves to remind me of the simplicity of happiness.

There are 116 days left in 2016 – and I am energized, excited, and eager.

Tag: fall

Fall Forever

Back to fall… Labor day planning