This morning we got up, did the usual morning bustle. I gathered my kids’ bags and lunches and nap pads and water bottles. Purse. Phone. Book. Kids to the car. Feed the animals. And we’re off!
As I pulled out of the drive, a tiny red leaf drifted down and landed on my beat-up Toyota. I’m not sure why, but I felt like I had to get out and snatch it off my hood. It was just too tiny and perfect and red. So I popped out, grabbed it, and gave it to my girls.
I love when September comes. For me, the arrival of September means that Summer is over, even if it doesn’t feel like it. The hottest days are behind me. Soon the sweating will end! It means Starbucks’ pumpkin scones and reverting back to hot, rather than iced, coffee.
For whatever reason, the coming of Autumn is always a pensive time for me. Every year I feel like I find myself stuck in my head for a few weeks. This past week I keep finding myself thumbing through my notebook that I use as a planner and I’m scrolling back over old journal entries. I discovered that last year this week I binge-watched a bunch of grisly horror films on a free, kid-less night. Ha, yes, Fall also means spooky everything. Gotta love that.
Anyhow. We measure our lives using all sorts of handy, if arbitrary, calendars, measurements, cycles. The 12-month calendar. Birthdays. Christmas’. New Years. The School Year (especially for students, parents of students, folks in education jobs). And also the seasons.
This makes me wonder if maybe we just feel like we’re our best selves, or at least closer to being that, in specific places, at specific times. Like people who prefer AM to PM. Summer to Winter. Are inspired by the sea but not so into the forest. And of course, there’s the company of people we love that can help bring out our best. I suppose when we feel most in our element, all those juices, creative or whatever they may be, flow a bit freer and some ritual, whether we’re aware of it or not, emerges whenever we find ourselves in these “happy circumstances.” Evenings coming on us earlier, layers of clothes, hot beverages, cold weather, pumpkins and scary everything…I’m in my element when the Summer ends.
This is what I thought about while driving my kids this morning. These thoughts brought me to scrolling through my phone seeking the wise words of Jonathan Larson, creator of Rent. I cranked up “Seasons of Love.”
Anyone who stumbles on this post, I wish you to find your “happy circumstances;” the people, places, and times that light you up. Tell me, how do you measure your life? Goals? Growth?
Alright, enough. Measure your (life) day in love. 🙂 Have a good one.