It’s official! Fall is now my favorite season. I admit, I’ve been a spring junkie for a good portion of my life but as I’ve aged and tucked a bit of wisdom under my belt, I’m discovering a bit of seasonal snobbery in my nature. I no longer refer to the season of colorful change as fall. It is now, “autumn”. It is clearly the most elegant word to describe a season of brilliant beauty. Not only is the temperature more to my liking, but autumn offers the opportunity to put the wisdom gained in previous months to good use. While schedules pick up pace, the calm, temperate weather brings balance and clarity to the chaos and offers a tranquil assurance. The earlier sunsets signal the need to get some much needed rest. But, autumn is by no means a season of laziness; I like to think of it more as a season of comfort. Like the comfort found in lingering a little longer over a pumpkin spiced chai tea, the welcoming aroma of a Crockpot at the end of the day or the delight I take in shuffling around in my slippers late into a Saturday morning. Autumn heralds the transition into a long and cold winter, so embrace it and make the most of all its bounty while it’s upon us.
The New Year lends itself to reevaluation. In the warmth of my office, I ponder some ambitious resolutions while staring at the neatly organized clutter invading my desk. A sea of yellow sticky notes frame my computer monitor while to my right, two stacks of neatly aligned and prioritized papers beg for attention. A half full or half empty (depending on how you look at it) coffee cup rests upon three identical notepads while a systemized stack of paper scraps with hieroglyphics scribbled on them sits next to a tall but tidy pile of receipts.