As we get ready to close out the year, what will we focus on, and what will we release with gratitude ?
Last fall, I wrote about rest and Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith’s seven types of rest: physical, mental, emotional, sensory, creative, social and spiritual. A year later, as I get closer to closing out my final year in my 30s, I understand even more deeply just how important rest is—and the role it plays in our beauty, our strength and our mental wellness. So, as fall begins again, I’m still encouraging all of us to rest. But this year, I’m also thinking about something else fall brings us: the relief of change.
We’re entering the final quarter of the year. Those of us with kids have started school routines and are still figuring out whether those routines are actually sustainable. The weather is shifting. After months of heat—and, for some of us, a little less structure—there is something comforting about cooler air and the return of rhythm. Fall also creates space to think about how we want to finish the year. And that can be daunting. With three months left, it is easy to think back to the person we were in January, full of hopes, plans and ambition, and start measuring what we have—or haven’t—accomplished.
Last fall, I had just found out I was pregnant. My head was spinning from the news, and somehow I still had very big ideas about everything I was going to accomplish. But growing a human is a major feat all by itself. This pregnancy, later in life and different from my first two, required much more of me than I expected. It challenged my health and strength, my mental clarity and, at times, even my certainty about what came next. A year later, I’m reaping the harvest of that season in baby snuggles, head smells and coos. And I am so deeply grateful—which feels pretty appropriate for this time of year.
So this fall holds an interesting combination of feelings for me. I am still working toward some of the goals that the pregnant version of me simply did not have the capacity to carry. But I’m also grateful that I was forced to slow down. As I slowly end my leave and ease back into my commitments, I want to be more intentional about what I pick back up. More discerning about what deserves my time. More thoughtful about the life I’m actually trying to build.
There are things I planted earlier this year that I’ll get to enjoy soon—travel, experiences and time with people I love. And there are still some bigger dreams I’m trying to figure out. I know I want real change in certain parts of my life, and continuing to move toward the life I want matters to me. But perhaps fall is reminding me that moving forward doesn’t mean carrying everything with me.
So as we enter this final quarter, I’m asking myself—and you: What are you putting to rest this season? What are you still hoping to harvest? And maybe most importantly: How are you going to show up as the version of yourself who gets to live the life you keep imagining?
I’m still figuring out my answers. I’d love to hear yours.
Happy fall, y’all.
Sparkle on.
