Early September ushers in the newness of Fall with crisp delightful air, soft breezes, and high puffy white clouds that could be pulled apart as if they were cotton candy. In New England, leaves are drying early from the extreme heat from the Summer, so they are starting to fall from the trees. I am not sure how much color the foliage will display this year. It will be a wait and see game. The slant of the sunlight is certainly noticeable. By late afternoon, the shadows cast down in a different direction than those in the summer and even photos have an interesting light characteristic about them.
The brilliant, colorful sunsets are magnificent, but if one blinks twice while gazing, just like that, the color palette fades. Evening walks are shortened if trying to catch the last bit of daylight. It becomes necessary to change the time of our beach activities. As I reluctantly say goodbye to Summer----so long flip flops and hello boots--- I adopt a new mindset to accept the beauty of Fall and all it has to offer.
Transitioning to a new season is upon us. I love the freshness of tackling new projects and creating new goals, but I always allow for leeway in my case since I never know if my migraine body will become unruly or not. I try to not become too frustrated if I lose days here or there, but in all honesty, I still get annoyed. While I see others going all "gung ho" about their daily business and goals, I know this is an important time to adapt a new mindset of not comparing myself to those on social media feeds who are clearly not walking in my footsteps.
Change requires opening up to a new mindset no matter how small. Sometimes just becoming more aware of others' life stories and listening to their perspectives can be a real opportunity for connecting, bonding, and understanding life from their point of view.
At this present time of so many unknowns, divisions, pandemic fears, and social unrest in our nation, life is extra challenging now. What seemed comfortable before, no longer is. Perhaps adopting a healthy perspective of respect for one other is becoming more aware of our own interior landscape and taking a truthful look at how we respond to what is going on around us. Easier said than done on some days.
Traveling with daily chronic migraine constantly teaches me to be open and flexible about my limitations and boundaries. My slow pace for everything becomes pure tedious many days. For me, creating a new mindset to accept my new normal has taken me years, and I still need to keep that in check so I don't go down the dark bunny hole of frustration from pain and exhaustion.
How are you looking forward to ushering in the new season of Autumn? Will you be creating a new mindset of some sort or another? Is there room for exploring a new perspective on an issue especially in light of our current state of events? Will you give voice to something that might give courage for someone else to do the same?
And of course, on a lighter note, Fall would not be the same without picking apples, baking apple pies, drinking lots of pumpkin spiced lattes, and decorating with pumpkins. Enjoy the goodness of this season and share your joy with others.
Happy September!
