Autumn Refresh

Hello lovely people,

I hope you are all doing well and are going to take or have taken some time out of your day to do something for you. For me, I’m doing this bright and early and I’m writing my new blog post. This is an exciting post, and it feels like a big hug. For others, maybe those who are still clutching onto the end of summer and hoping for some more warm weather, it might not feel like a big hug. More like a pat on the back and a come on, let’s get on with it.

Autumn to me is pure joy. I love everything it brings, when it starts getting colder and you do that little shiver as you pull your coat tighter. Walking along pavements and crunching the crisp leaves and admiring all the golden orange hues of them and the way they dance in the wind as they fall from the trees. Seasonal drinks start popping up, and I’ve already agreed with one of my friends that this will be the year I try a pumpkin spice latte (which will be interesting as I detest coffee, but maybe my taste buds have matured). The nights start getting darker sooner which means shutting the world out, lighting candles and being cosy. And everything just seems better. Of course, there are the awkward times particularly when it’s not quite cold but it’s not quite warm, so you have to have the great jacket debate every morning. And you have to be careful of crunching the leaves too much just in case some dog owners have not been responsible.

To me, autumn is magical, and it always symbolises a time to refresh and sort my lift out a bit. I don’t know if it’s because as we enter September, I’m reminded of the back-to-school joy that was short lived as I only looked forward to it to debut my new pencil case and school bag and receive my new planner for the academic year. Then you’d give it two weeks and you’d hate your timetable, and the planner would have been vandalised. But there was that excitement about starting fresh that I guess I’ve clung onto.

I like to use autumn as a time to plan and focus on how I’m going to get the most out of the last few months of the year. I get that that isn’t for everyone and after the 2 years that we have all had if you just want to get through the rest of the year then that is perfectly okay, because it has been a lot and has been tiring. I think I’ve done a lot of just getting by this year, ordinarily I wouldn’t like myself to do this as I always have 399 thoughts running through my head of ideas I could do, but I can’t sit here and torture myself. Instead, we move on and plan for the remainder of the year.

I’m going to set a few goals myself that I will document here: get back on track with my healthy eating and exercising – this has been a struggle since moving out of my parent’s house so I need to be more disciplined, tick everything off my “inside the house to do list” by 1^st October – a time to make real progress and get all the fiddly jobs done that I have been putting off since moving in, prioritising myself more – I’m a huge advocate for telling other people to look after themselves but I’m terrible at doing it myself so that’s a big goal for me. Setting myself goals and being honest with my intentions really helps me to feel like I’m on some Elle Woods kind of power move which motivates me to continue to improve myself, which can never be a bad thing for anyone.

It also helps to keep your mind calm in the run up to the C word, I won’t mention that yet as I know there are many people who are not prepared for it! I, in my elf-like way, am always prepared for it. But I’ll hold off for a little while.

If you want to set yourself some goals but don’t really know where to start then here are some suggestions: going out for a walk – a simple task but putting the time aside to do it is difficult because often you just end up thinking “I’ll go tomorrow” but go for that walk and crunch those leaves, take up a new hobby that helps you to make the most of longer evenings, give your house and garden some TLC – cut back things in the garden and plant spring bulbs (you’d honestly be better checking some sort of garden programme etc. to check what to cut back because although I’m going to learn about gardening at the minute I’m clueless and would probably encourage you to chop-chop the wrong things) and clean your windows, highlighting the little jobs that need doing but we put them off all.the.time., read that book that’s been on your to be read list for ages, have a clear out of anything you’ve been keeping for years because you “might use it one day”. And if you’re stuck for ideas then Pinterest is always a great tool.

I know that when the nights start getting darker earlier and it starts getting colder a lot of people don’t know how to deal with it and it can make you sad, I’m not immune to it – by the time the end of January comes around I’m ready for the sunshine. But having goals to focus on and appreciating autumn for what it is can help you to enjoy this glorious season.

I’m going to disappear now before I ramble for ages and ages about how much I adore autumn. Have a great rest of your day!

All my love, Lia x