Grace Made

“Autumn mornings: sunshine and crisp air, birds and calmness, year’s end and day’s beginnings.” – Terri Guillemets

Fall (also known as autumn), is my most favorite season of them all. As an avid sweater lover who grew up in a country that does not experience the four seasons, fall was something I always looked forward to. Everything everywhere has a pumpkin on it (like those hidden Mickeys in Disney World) and you can get all the pumpkin-flavored things your heart desires. The coffee shop menus are also an autumn galore, with spice-filled drinks and apple macchiatos. Also, you get to enjoy seeing all the different colors, shapes, and sizes of pumpkins – I did not know warty pumpkins existed until a few years ago!

That being said, I also started to associate fall almost as a second “New Year’s”. Spring and summer follow the same pattern, weather, and decor, yet there is something about that first day of fall that hits different. Things get cozier, breezes get chillier, and you start seeing life through faded, warm-colored glasses.

Why, then, do I associate fall as a second “New Year’s”? I have always seen this season as the shedding of the old before the new. Leaves change color, weather changes, and lifestyle as we know it is different for the next few months. Days become shorter, and weather becomes more unpredictable (in Nashville, we have a “fake Fall” before we get the real one!). During this time of change, we can assess our current lifestyle and “shed” whatever has been holding us behind. “Spring cleaning” can become “fall decluttering.” Nature uses this as a time of transition, and so can we!

I encourage you, and myself, to revisit any habits we were wanting to implement this year, and to use this season and time as a “clock reset”. Start trying out that hobby you have always found intrigue in. Go to that community event to meet new people and make friends along the way. Contemplate where you have been allocating your time, and set goals for these future months, all the while enjoying those pumpkin spice lattes or apple ciders. There is no greater time than the present to provide that space to pause and consider where we are standing at currently, both in our hearts and minds, and how we can move forward better than before.

There is so much time left in this year, let us not get discouraged by January goal-setting but rather embrace the change this season brings and follow its footsteps. Personally, I want to leave old habits of messy sleep schedules and clutter, and welcome in better organization of my schedule and home. I want to be more mindful in leaving time for these things in between the tasks of school and work. While it is not easy, it is possible! It is the first step that makes all the difference.

So, happy Fall! Here’s to the new season and changes to come.