fall and the winds of reflection

Fall gets me.
or maybe I get fall.
but in any case, fall and I have a special connection.

And I don't even mean because of all the beautiful colors on the trees and the mums (!) and the pumpkins.  Or the hoodies and pumpkin spice flavored treats, or even Halloween...although, I do love all of those things.  

My heart connection to the fall season actually has to do with the the overwhelming sense of reflection that I get each year around this time.  It starts with the back-to-school aisles, all those rows of perfectly organized pencils and markers.  Back to school always gives me a sense of wild excitement. It's the combination of office supplies (because, puhlease, I'm such a sucker for a box of crayola markers, and a stack of post-it notes) and the idea of getting back into a routine.  

I was trying to explain to Brandon that growing up, since we were kind of rural kids, we really didn't see our friends over the summer (except for west point road kids, shout out to Krista!) because there was no internet, no cell phones, no public transportation,so yeah, that's part of the reason why my sisters and I are so tight (hah).  The start of school really did mean seeing our friends again which was fantastically exciting and I still have that butterfly feeling in my stomach every single year just lingering over from childhood days long gone. 

The start of school jitters ease and with the first sight of a changing leaf on a tree, or the sound of rustling fallen leaves on the road, my heart swells.  

This season feels like permission to shed my own figurative leaves too.  A visual reminder that it's the season for reflection, shaking off whatever's been holding on too long, and a time to settle in for the winter months. 

Instead of associating fall as the heralding in of winter, I liken it to the shedding of the summer.  Our summers (and spring...well also our winters too in the smack dab of basketball season) is so full of plans, celebrations, traveling, and events.  It feels like the other three seasons fly by in a whirlwind  and I find myself going back through the photo folders and catching myself thinking, 'omigosh, I forgot we did that.'

But fall,
fall is different.

We still have plans and celebrations and places to be, but somehow fall feels like we've tied up the loose ends of summer's wild ride and the busy of Christmas is still far away.
In suspension almost.
We're not awaiting the next thing, we're just here right now in our hoodies and re-reading our favorite Halloween books for the three hundredth time, and relishing in the last days outside before the cold forces us in.

This year, I'm finding myself doing a lot of reflection on the day to day of our life; what are my routines?  Am I making choices about the way I spend my day with intention or is my day to day activities just happening...and if that's the case, what will be the things I remember back on this time when my kids are so young?  What will my young kids remember back on this time based off of our daily activities?

In our Inspired Readers book club, we're also reading a very timely book for my fall season reflection; The Winter of Our Disconnect as it has me really thinking on how we, as a family, experience technology and how that technology helps us or (eek!) hinders us in experiencing life.

I know the kind of person I want to be each day, and I know what I hope/want my kids to remember back on about this time in our life - it's just a matter of putting in the time and effort to make those things happen (even if only a little bit) each day.  What's that Annie Dillard quote again...

We've made ambitious plans for October already that will hopefully address some of the ways we'd like to live our days more like how we hope to live our lives:

We're tackling my 100 small things items:
For a whole month, no eating out (life goals: save money, be more daring in the kitchen, continue to eat dinners as a family)

and also For a whole month, blog everyday (life goal:  make time to write every single day, Tabitha!!!)
Actually, this goal will technically run from September 29-October 29, because I took a cue from Ashley of the BWF when she said don't wait to 'start' something if you're ready now! Thanks as always for the inspiration, Ashley!


Do you love the fall season too?  Are you living  your days like you hope to live your life?  Share how!
xxoxo