LIFE SPACES
By Traci McBride
Creating pleasant seasonal rituals and routines has many benefits, bringing our awareness and focus to the present moment, relieving stress, and enhancing gratefulness. Good habits are well-planned, regular and predictable.
Predictable rituals motivate everything from buying habits to household activities. Marketing from retailers pushing back-to-school sales, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas never stops.
This time of year motivates me to buy notebooks, markers and office supplies. Something in my brain wants all these things even though I no longer need back-to-school supplies, but the 12 years of schooling created an intense ritual. The cooler weather triggers cravings for cozy items like candles and blankets, which keep getting stronger. I resist buying more, grateful for my abundance.
List It
To help reset my mindset, I journal about what I enjoyed and accomplished in the past season. This check-in on myself is vital to staying focused on what makes me happy and prepared for the upcoming months. Acknowledging and learning from when I didn’t step up is a natural way to make adjustments and plan to improve.
My list-making mind kicks in as I brain-dump all that I need to put on the calendar to prepare for autumn. As the days get darker earlier, I pop colorful mums into the planters to replace the dull, spent annuals. I prefer to ease into the fall season and keep color in the garden up until the first frost. By the first week in October, I’m swapping out summer bedding for a heavier velvet duvet cover and cozy cashmere blanket.
My mind turns to indoor projects: painting, reorganizing pantries and closets and changing the decorative vignettes on table tops.
At a recent event, I asked a handful of local women to share their fall rituals. Here’s what they said:
Sarah turns to her easy crockpot recipes, baking her favorite sweets to stock in the freezer.
Edith begins uploading and printing all her favorite phone photos from the summer and preparing them for upcoming holiday gift-giving ideas.
Connie takes a few days to reorganize her garage to function in the cooler weather and takes a box or two to her local thrift store.
Nancy cleans up her garden, harvesting and cutting things back and washing pots for next year as she makes notes in her garden journal for next year.
Consider an Autumn Reset
- Manage your time to make the most of change during this busy season.
- Choose a season-long theme such as “family,” “creating beauty,” or “fun with friends.”
- Phrase intentions in the positive. Start with, “I am …..” or “May I be ….” and make the intention short. Then, write and repeat the phrase three times.
- Repeat your intention throughout the day, such as when you wake up or before going to bed.
- When you succeed, marinate in it, appreciate it, and give yourself credit for making a change.
- Practice gratitude for everything that is already going well.
- Get out and experience nature. Autumn is a perfect season for outdoor reflection.
