If you are stateside, the back to school routine is getting ironed out, and you are already anticipating the cooler mornings and nights that September and October promise us. If the cooler days and getting back into a routine isn’t enough to have you welcoming fall (and, for me, right now, it is not), sitting down to make some plans might help you reap the benefits of that back to school energy. But keeping in mind that I am incorporating more fun and presence in my life, my plans for fall incorporate a fair dose of delight. Here’s what I am thinking.
Go Old School. Remember that feeling of promise that fresh school supplies, a new school year, and a few new back to school clothing items provided? Well, you can harness that feeling even now. Set a few goals that will give you a bit of a stretch but not push you into higher-focus, super productive at the expense of your soul mode.
For me, my gentle fall goals are to:
- get to the gym at least twice a week for yoga and Pilates.
- get in at least a couple runs a week.
- use the walk to school to pick up Happy at the end of the school day as a powerful transition tool to shut down my work brain and my walk home with Happy as a great way to hear all his stories about Kindergarten and stay connected.
- Continue to focus on presence.
- Give all the closets, cabinets, and the attic a good once-over for clutter.
Make a To Experience List. Speaking of goals, productivity, and presence, sometimes what we most need to get out of our heads and into being is to dream a little bit about what we would rather be experiencing if we weren’t always so productive. You’ve got the running litany of to dos in your head (or in your trusty to do notebook). You have some goals for the fall. Now, let’s shift your energy and start thinking about having some fun. What fun can you drum up this fall? Is this the year that you camp out as a family? Do you want to really decorate for Halloween or have a family theme for costumes? Just like Summer of Intentionality, throw the gauntlet for fall and write down some things that it would thrill you to do.
For me, I am looking at these possibilities for our fall:
- Celebrate starting Kindergarten and Happy’s 6th birthday in a big way.
- Go apple picking.
- Go on a hay ride.
- Turn up the holiday décor for Halloween (including pumpkin patching) and Thanksgiving.
- Put up a Little Free Library.
- Go fishing.
- Build a path to the Sugar Shack.
- Go to a football game.
- Ride bikes on the greenway.
- Visit a corn maze.
Nail down the details. The ideas aren’t usually the challenge; it’s the follow-through so take some time with your list and calendar to figure out what you can really logistically make happen (if something feels like it is hard to make happen that might be an indicator that you don’t really want to make it happen which is perfectly okay). Schedule items on your calendar and then break the parts of making it happen down for your to do list.
Most of all, just get ready to relish your fall.
