Autumn is upon us, and with it, comes a certain inescapable feeling. A tugging at the heart like a premonition of the future and a longing for the carefree past which has quickly faded into the long shadows – vanishing into the early sunset.
It’s a feeling so familiar and yet so hard to name. It elicits a physical response in the pit of your stomach and an impulse to both hide and explore all at the same time. The angle of the sun or the rustle of a tree branch against the cold blue sky can trigger it – at once lonely and ominous and just as quickly vibrant and full of opportunities to start something new. A beginning and an ending all at the same time.
As children, fall brought that unique back to school feeling, a mix of fear and excitement for the new start of school and what possibilities lay ahead. New clothes, fresh books and a schedule all planned out for us….
Isn’t it funny that as adults we have such a binary relationship with schedules. On the one hand we resent them and on the other we desperately crave them.
As kids our schedule was more like a lottery – one that determined who our teacher would be and what kids were in our class. You never knew which teacher might change your life trajectory or if a classmate might become a lifelong friend. All we were required to do was show up.
There are lessons we can learn from how we rolled when we were children. We weren’t worried about the big picture future (our parents and teachers did all that for us) , we were laser focused on navigating the immediate future – the next class, the next glance from a bully or a crush.
Without the meta view, each moment had a heightened significance that felt like it could be our last. And so we lived the highs and lows as they came before we learned how to bottle them up inside or became trained to manage our emotions.
In many ways we were truly living in each moment itself and feeling all the feels that each moment of everyday brought. Unaware that we were doing it, we were choosing courage and vulnerability over fear of the unknown. We were masters of taking it one moment at a time.
So if you are feeling that fall feeling today as I am you are not alone.
Remember how brave you are and curl up in a cozy corner and allow yourselves to feel all the feels again. Schedule some time for yourself to NOT worry about the future. Don your favorite boots and sweater, breathe the crisp air, linger in a bookstore and enjoy the fruits of the harvest.
As for me, I’ve decided to put something new on my schedule that you can only do in the fall and try my hand at harvesting grapes. I love the idea of it but have no clue if I’ll actually like it but I’m gonna take it one moment at a time and put it on my schedule.
Published in Collaboration with:
Also by Lisa Hopkins:
Strengthening the Divine Muscle of Choice