The Seasonal Shake-Up: Hocus Pocus & Hot Apple Cider

Hello September!  It’s not quite autumn yet, but it’s on its way, and I am Here. For. It.

Let’s begin with the fact that I LOVE FALL.  The air is crisp and the colors are beautiful and football is back and pumpkin and apples rule all and Oh. My. Hecking. Goodness. My heart is exploding right now. 

My sister and I both have fall birthdays, so growing up, we always had the extra excitement of an upcoming celebration.  Side note:  Fall birthdays are THE BEST and you can’t tell me otherwise.  Our birthday parties always had outdoor activities because the weather is PERFECT.  We did bobbing for apples and hayrides and pumpkin carving and flashlight tag and it was just the greatest.  Moral of the story, I love autumn and it gives me ALL THE FEELS.

Story time.

About two weeks ago (still August, mind you), it was a beautiful 65 degree day and I was stuck at work.  A coworker was sharing that she was excited return to school that weekend for her senior year of college, and all my memories of football games and marching band and hayrides flooded my soul.  She and I talked about all of our fall favorites and when she left, I was left feeling very unsettled. 

I wasn’t feeling unsettled because I was sad it wasn’t fall yet, and I wasn’t upset that I wasn’t going back to school.  I was upset because I knew that I probably wouldn’t get the opportunity to enjoy all of the things that I love so much about fall.  I know that I pack my schedule, and my calendar fills up and all of a sudden, I don’t have a free weekend to go to a football game or go apple picking. And I don’t think I’m the only one with this problem.  I think we all say yes to one too many things, and don’t realize it until it’s too late.  

One thing you should know about me is that I’m an organizer, and as such, I love lists.  So I responded to this frustration by listing out every. single. thing. that I loved about fall.  I didn’t want to get too busy and forget the things I loved to do and experience, so I wrote them down.  I added things that I always tell myself I’m going to do in October.  I listed things that are so “basic” but I don’t care because I actually really enjoy them.  I wrote down cute things that I’ve seen on Hallmark movies that just filled my soul with pure joy.  It’s cheesy and dumb, I know.  But I wrote out a list of things that made me happy.  I didn’t want to feel unsettled or angry or confused about my favorite time of year approaching, so I used that stress to find things that brought joy.  As mental as it is, I made a Happiness list.

I considered my Happiness list, and I decided that I didn’t just want to have a list of things that made me happy.  I wanted to have the memories to go with it.  So I kept going.  At the bottom of my list, I made a “fall bucket list” if you will.  I created a list of things I wanted to and WILL do this season.  Some of them are super simple and some of them take a little time and planning.  But you know what? I decided that I wasn’t going to sit around and feel sad that I was too busy to enjoy the simple things in life.  Like my pal, Rachel Hollis, always says, “Hope is not a strategy.”  I must be intentional about the things that make my heart sing and plan them out.  Even if its stupid and feels ridiculous, I’m absolutely going to plan an evening to make some hot apple cider and curl up on my couch with my favorite cozy blanket and watch Hocus Pocus.  And I’m absolutely going to plan a day that I’m off and I can go to the closest cute town and get dressed in a cute sweater and boots and buy a pumpkin spice latte to go and walk around the town enjoying 65 degree weather and pretending I’m a Gilmore girl in Stars Hollow.  Because you know what?  That is the stuff that brings me utter bliss.  So why not do it?

Later that day, I was driving home with my sister and I told her about my fall bucket list, and she asked to see it.  For some reason, I didn’t want her to read it.  I was okay with telling her that I wanted to be intentional, but I didn’t want to be vulnerable enough to show her the things that I actually put down on paper.  Why?  Because deep down, I am a sensitive, Hallmark-loving, feelsy-as-all-get-out girl.  I didn’t want her to judge me for wanting Pumpkin Spice everything or for watching Harry Potter all September.  However, as sisters tend to do, she read it anyway.  OUT LOUD.  And I reacted to this insecurity in the worst way possible.  I melted down and cried.  A lot.  I had a full-on sob-fest because I wanted these things so badly and was embarrassed by that. 

Let me repeat that.

I was embarrassed by wanting things that made me happy.

WHAT.

That is insane.  I am a crazy person, on so many levels.

Why on earth should I care so much about what other people think about me and my dreams, that I push away the very things that bring me so much joy?  That is ridiculous.  I am a grown woman, with a husband and a mortgage and two dogs.  I do not have time to worry about other people judging what brings me joy.  Because its not for them at all.  Its for me, and nobody else.  This little list of Happiness was something I wrote up just for me. 

Happiness or seeking happiness should never be something we are ashamed of.  Quite honestly, I think we all need to stop every now and then and make a list of things that make us happy.  Things that make us smile just thinking about.  Like the way I feel about pumpkin candles in my living room.  The simple act of lighting a candle that makes my entire house smell warm and sweet just fills me with such contentment.  Spending a lazy Sunday afternoon watching football with the fam brings me so much peace and cheer. At the end of the day, isn’t that what we are all striving for anyway?  Aren’t we all in search of true joy?  If I can find peace and happiness by having my family over for a bonfire on a chilly night, then nobody should be able to take that away from me.  Shouldn’t we all be more concerned with our own joy, rather than constantly worrying about someone else’s?  

Make your own happiness list.  Write as many things down as you can think of that make you smile.  A favorite shirt or pair of shoes.  A special meal.  Something new you’ve always wanted to try, no matter how small.  And then make a bucket list.  You can do your lists seasonally, like I did, or annually. Before 2020, do a few of those things, and don’t concern yourself with what others may think about your list.  Your list is for you, and if it makes you happy, that’s enough.

“Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.”            Proverbs 29:25

“Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”                  Psalm 126:2