So I was daydreaming on my porch the other day, sun gazing and forest bathing, and trying to manifest a hammock out of thin air...when all of a sudden I couldn't help but wonder...
What’s your favorite season?
I’ll admit, personally I do find it hard to pick just one, but I’d have to say autumn ranks pretty damn high for me. There’s just something about the sights, and fragrance, and the energy of autumn. The changing colors of the dancing leaves, the smell of crackling wood in the fireplace, and the feel of crisp air on my face, just beckoning for a furry coat that wraps me like a bear hug.
Just as I was deeply pondering on this self-induced question...ding ding goes my email inbox!
"Of the four seasons, autumn is by far the most paradoxical. Wedged between an equinox and a solstice, it moors us to cosmic rhythms of deep time and at the same time envelops us in the palpable immediacy of its warm afternoon breeze, its evening chill, its unmistakable scentscape. It is a season considered temperate, but one often tempestuous in its sudden storms and ecstatic echoes of summer heat. We call it “fall” with the wistfulness of loss as we watch leaves and ripe fruit drop to the ground, but it is also the season of abundance, of labor coming to fruition in harvest."
--Brain Pickings
Now that all sounds lovely and sweet. And rather nostalgic. But real life never quite feels so poetic, right. In fact, it begs the question...what if our grown asses were back in school! That return to home room with all our friends, right after the long seasonal break...what exactly would we have to write if the teacher assigned that infamous essay? You know the one. Asking us all to dig up our memories of holiday breaks and vacations with the fam. If this were real life right now for the beloved season of fall, most of us wouldn't have anything rather exciting to show for ourselves in order to write that essay. Time to change that!
There are so many great things about autumn. Do you feel the same, or do you feel slightly melancholy as autumn approaches? Don't get me wrong, I know even the slightest chill makes an entire population moan of frost bite, or how daylights savings time is the curse that just won't go away. I can empathize with my fellow Spring and Summer groupies who find that the first signs of autumn approaching may not be so appealing at all. First off, few people like change, and the signs of a changing season signify the inevitable back-to-school or work routine, after the gloriously lazy days of summer. There’s that awful 9-5 dread of dark mornings and dark evenings fast approaching. The start of colder, unpredictable climate, and the promise of many cancelled plans or nights in alone to come. Like it or not though, autumn is here, and I woke up fully enlightened to make the most of it. Fall is energetically the season for renewal + attracting what we wanted to call in but haven’t yet, and I figured I’d get some friends and do a challenge to inspire us to find new joys, playful delights, and explore what makes us happy again. Somehow it just feels better to head into to each season looking forward to its uniqueness. And when it comes to Autumn...
"I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."
― L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
I don’t know about you, but every year when Summer rolls around I have every intention of making it a memorable and absolutely fabulous one for the history books, with day trips and staycations galore... backyard barbecues and raunchy behavior with friends. Yet, without fail, somewhere between waiting for the weekend after a long week of client work, and actually getting out to attempt enjoying my free time, I usually end up reverting back to the same old habits. Which, should go without saying - usually involve a good ol' fashioned mix of millennial Netflix chilling re-runs and Uber eats hibernation. #firstworldproblems
Then I came across some nifty women who set out to be more intentional about their favorite seasons. One such woman is the beloved and renowned author Gretchen Ruben of Happiness Project fame. In an episode of her popular podcast of the same name, she introduced the notion of Designing Your Summer. Wouldn’t it be really fun, she mused, to intentionally focus on a smorgasbord of ideas and activities during any summer season that would make you genuinely happier. I was instantly amused and intrigued. Let's just say the entire concept resonated with the version of me that had become a stagnant, stale, boring grandma. It resonated hard. I think we all struggle to find the time to do things we really enjoy, so deliberately finding ways to add a few extras in is a challenge in of itself. Well, I'm a gal who likes a challenge! So, in jiffy I decided to take the ‘Design Your Summer’ challenge, but this time, for the approaching Fall season, and I’m hoping you will too! What do you say, you in?
#FALLISCOMINGPROJECT
DESIGN YOUR FALL: INTENTIONALLY CREATE THE SEASON OF YOUR DREAMS
Like I said, fall is energetically the season for renewal + attracting what we wanted to call in but haven’t yet, making it a wonderfully perfect time to practice manifesting or simply to find new joys, fun things to try out for the first time, and explore what makes us happy again. The #falliscomingproject is all about spending the next 100 days in a low pressure adventurous way, with an opportunity to make new friends who also love this season and want to renew together! Some easy peasy ideas for introducing new daily joys into your life during this kind of challenge include:
🌿new joys like trying adult coloring books, crystals, puzzles, (remember puzzles!?) essential oils, hoola hooping, ice cream sundaes, sleepovers with our local friends, etc
🌿learning new things we’ve been putting off like yoga handstands or human design, tarot cards, transcendent meditation, abundance manifesting, bullet or art journaling, etc
🌿working on our career and figuring out what we really want
🌿getting new fun ways to be healthy
🌿exploring new places before it gets so cold we don’t wanna leave the house
🌿and homebody activities that are fun for the season like swapping soup recipes, making morning drinks like cacao teas or glow smoothies, netflix watch parties, book club, etc
Doesn't that sound much better than eating PB&J sandwiches alone on your couch for the next 100 days? I mean, kind of...
To sum up everything, the full ‘Design Your Fall’ looks like this:
- 10 themes
- 10 days for each theme
- Mark your calendar for each 10 days you try out a new theme (I love using stickers or markers to do this...maybe even color code it!)
- Share your daily joy adventures on social media
- Claim your certificate at the end!
Easy as pie right. And here are the 10 themes for this Fall 2019...
- Stop to smell the roses
- Every day is a holiday
- Nostalgia is calling
- Rituals
- The artist way
- Inner child
- Fall into a wardrobe
- Homebodies
- Life of the party
- Treasure Chest = your wild card theme!
Stop To Smell The Roses
Life moves pretty fast, and if you don’t stop to look around once in while you, might just miss it. There’s something about fall that makes it the perfect time to get intentional about stopping and appreciating everything around you a bit more. How can you do that this season?
Everyday Is A Holiday
When you live in a city for a long enough period of time, it’s pretty easy to forget about all the great things that are nearby which can make even the most mundane weekday feel like a summer vacation in the Hamptons or Christmas ski trip in France. Just think, right outside your doorstep are the kind of things that tourists actually pay money to see but are at your disposal night and day! Why not go out and see your hometown with a fresh pair of eyes. Play tourist among all the familiar sights! Try looking up your city on Trip Advisor and see what comes up.
So you start to get the idea with these themes right? It's super easy, and totally up for personal interpretation. You could...
- have comfort foods delivered to your house/apartment every night for 10 days or try out heirloom recipes passed down from your family <--- NOSTALGIA
- be your own DJ and mix an autumn playlist like the Calvin Harris you are <--- RITUALS
- get crafty and draw, paint, whip out some coloring books, build a gingerbread house or start sewing again <---- ARTIST WAY
- go camping before the snow, for smores <--- INNER CHILD
- Marie Kondo your entire closet just in time for winter boots, silk scarves, furry coats, and all your favorite cold weather wardrobe staples <---- FALL WARDROBE
- stargaze just for the hell of it, and see if there are shooting stars one night <--- ROSES
- visit your local library and smell the books, or actually take one home for a week worth of escapist reading <---- HOMEBODIES
- play a board game <--- INNER CHILD
- complete a puzzle <--- HOMEBODIES
- start an indoor herb garden <--- HOMEBODIES
- sign up for a manifesting class, tarot card reading, or astrology workshop <--- TREASURE CHEST
Everyday Is A Holiday
When you live in a city for a long enough period of time, it’s pretty easy to forget about all the great things that are nearby which can make even the most mundane weekday feel like a summer vacation in the Hamptons or Christmas ski trip in France. Just think, right outside your doorstep are the kind of things that tourists actually pay money to see but are at your disposal night and day! Why not go out and see your hometown with a fresh pair of eyes. Play tourist among all the familiar sights! Try looking up your city on Trip Advisor and see what comes up.
So you start to get the idea with these themes right? It's super easy, and totally up for personal interpretation. You could...
- have comfort foods delivered to your house/apartment every night for 10 days or try out heirloom recipes passed down from your family <--- NOSTALGIA
- be your own DJ and mix an autumn playlist like the Calvin Harris you are <--- RITUALS
- get crafty and draw, paint, whip out some coloring books, build a gingerbread house or start sewing again <---- ARTIST WAY
- go camping before the snow, for smores <--- INNER CHILD
- Marie Kondo your entire closet just in time for winter boots, silk scarves, furry coats, and all your favorite cold weather wardrobe staples <---- FALL WARDROBE
- stargaze just for the hell of it, and see if there are shooting stars one night <--- ROSES
- visit your local library and smell the books, or actually take one home for a week worth of escapist reading <---- HOMEBODIES
- play a board game <--- INNER CHILD
- complete a puzzle <--- HOMEBODIES
- start an indoor herb garden <--- HOMEBODIES
- sign up for a manifesting class, tarot card reading, or astrology workshop <--- TREASURE CHEST
So all you have to do is select your theme in any order you like (maybe the homebody theme sounds perfect so you can ease your way into change, or maybe the rituals theme sounds like the perfect way to start off your project with a bang...your choice!) and then try that theme out for 10 days. Short enough so you don't get bored, but just long enough to make a new habit out of experiencing joy. Feel like you may need a bit more guidance before you start? Here's a little quick start guide below!
PRE-CLEANSE MARIE KONDO STYLE
What a magical time to declutter your mind. And maybe while you're at it, just declutter your surroundings too. 100 days of a season is only three months, and by now we know from experience being on this planet for decades, just how utterly fast time flies by. Especially when you're having fun. So there is absolutely no harm done with getting a little organized and proactive to plan your fun ahead of time. Yesss, this sounds a lot like adulting, but hey, even daily joy needs some parameters every now and again.
Take the time to lay out a light flexible action plan for your autumn. Maybe bust out the calendar and mark off upcoming vacations, family reunions, church events, friend birthdays, rookie PTO days you plan on calling out from work (wink, wink) and of course the many upcoming holidays. If you're feeling crafty and want to even make your planning process infused with more joy, delight yourself with colorful markers, stickers, or I even like using Japanese Washi tape for this. Bullet journal style! If you plan on being out of commission or decompressing on these newly marked off days, especially if you're a fellow introvert who needs tons of time alone to come down from a social high, now when you go to count up the remaining days, suddenly autumn feels a whole lot shorter right. Time flies! But at least you're prepared. Yay you!!
AN AUTUMN STATE OF MIND.SET
Spend a little time to fantasize about your dream autumn day. Brainstorm some fun goals or ideas you could pursue to make this season special. Talk to friends and family about what they might like to do this fall. Write it all out like a kid making their holiday wishlist. Sky is the limit, and no one is judging. This is just a fantastic way to nurture a mindset that will cultivate and manifest a wonderful autumn for yourself, and those around you.
BREAK IT DOWN, DOWN, DOWN
Now that you know where all your autumn days will disappear to, and how many free days you'll have left to simply self explore, along with a mindset that will attract the most amazing memories, the time has come to start breaking down your autumn daily joys list. Think of it like an autumn bucket list! Such a novel idea right? When do we ever get time to dream about a perfect season. Here's your chance.
For me personally, you can bet your little tush my bucket list of joy will include roasting s’mores over an imaginary bonfire, (more like my tiny gas stove) having a leaves throwing party with my brother, practicing the art of immaculate dark chocolate brownie baking, and curating the ultimate movie + music playlist. If you prefer to have an itemized list of activities to accomplish, sort of like mine above, now you can start plotting them out. Or if you want to think big picture and come up with a broad brushstroke of dreamy ideas, that works too! A lot of my friends just want to read more. Or this could be your final chance in 2019 to redecorate the house before in laws come. A lot of my mom friends say they just want to get out of the house with their kids and “do things.” That’s all fab. General ideas or goals can still work. You just have to break them down. Don’t be afraid to actually make a plan though, it will prevent you from making up excuses later on. Yes, people are wired to make up excuses for avoiding joy and fun times. Strange, but true. Don’t leave it all to chance and say “oh well, I will figure this out as I go or one weekend when I'm free.” You won’t. You know you won’t. Pick the best possible time for your daily joys and book it like an appointment with yourself. I’ve found it really helps to have your list written out, then work backward into monthly/weekly/daily joy tasks.
For Example:
Final Joy Goal – By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, which is the infamous day for gaining about seven unnecessary necessary pounds, I want to have gotten back to my pre-girlfriend weight, make it through an entire ShaunT INSANITY workout class with full effort and no bullshit exceptions, and be comfortable in a two piece bikini at the hot tub. How can I make something that would normally be dull as shit, a joyful autumn adventure you might ask?
Monthly – First I'll start by Amazon Priming a bunch of cheap, cute, super colorful new gym clothes so it makes me feel vibrant and sexy, even if I'm alone in my house. Then I'll download some apps that will remind me + keep me accountable with cute little check ins that are more endearing than annoying. I'll have a motivating music playlist ready to go, brimming with songs I haven't heard since the 90s but are epic ragers (Spice Girls anyone!?) I'll find pretty filters on Instagram to capture my sweaty little self after each workout so there's a positive feedback loop in place that encourages me to do it all over again the next day. And I'll make a recipe plan for amazing superfood glow smoothies. Maybe even work up the nerve to finally try my hand at those smoothie bowls that look like works of art. Now that's a joyful workout plan!
Weekly – I totally go ape and stick various colorful post-it notes all over my calendar with the workout plan and some positive affirmations or mantras for good measure. I can do some journaling prompts that keep my mind right and ready for anything, not to mention serve as a reminder for my future self. I can use my fun and easy apps to schedule meal ideas and have it create grocery shopping lists that are already done. No planning needed, yay!
Daily – I also throw in some nostalgia for my routine, as inspired via Aesthetics of Joy, by jump roping and hoola hooping and bouncing on a trampoline. Anything my inner child would love that in turn makes working out feel less like work, but altogether still a great effective act of cardio! Voila, all done! And I've worked in more than one of the 10 themes too.
WHERE YO FRIENDS AT
I guarantee you that you have friends and family out there who also want to make the most of their autumn. If your goal is to get your ass in a jacuzzi as much as humanly possible, round up a group of friends and set a weekly pool/splash pad date. If you want to cook more, invite a neighbor or friendly couple over every Tuesday night and make a new dish from that cookbook you never crack open anymore. Get a personal trainer. Join a book club. Plan a hiking date with your new office buddy. The mall has a bunch of activities, and so does your local library. Look up the tourism website for your city and check out what they have to offer like festivals or week-long events with sales and goodies. There is always something to do, something to try. You never have to sit on the couch wondering “What should we do today? Watch Frozen again?” Call someone up, text someone, slide into those DMs...whatever you have to do, get accountability in your life and live it up, together!
READY TO START THE #FALLISCOMINGPROJECT?
Join our worldwide lady (and lad!) gang of autumn lovers and joy chasers for this light-hearted, expansive, first annual 100 day challenge.
Anyone can join us for the challenge (yes, that means you too!). The entry is simple: choose a joyous activity, do something joyous every day for 100 days, and share your progress on Instagram with the hashtag #FallIsComingProject
#falliscomingproject starts September 23, 2019
Here's how to play:
STEP 1 THE LIST
New weekly themes and daily joy ideas to inspire your own! Highlights from everyone's Instagram shares. Surprises and gifts. Everything you want to know about the challenge project delivered straight to your inbox once a week! No spam, I promise.
STE 2 JOIN THE COMMUNITY
Follow yours truly, the #FallIsComingProject creator on Instagram @letitiaelizabeth to receive all the Instagram Stories daily prompts and highlights reel of people around the globe who are participating. While you’re there, search the hashtag #FallIsComingProject to find and follow other peeps who are participating so we can cheer each other on and see the amazing amount of joy being created this season.
STEP 3 CHOOSE YOUR JOY
Pick something you want to do each 10 day cycle of the full 100 days of the project. You'll post either everyday, or whenever you can at least once during each 10 day cycle on your Instagram account with the #FallIsComingProject hashtag. Actual posts once a week is best so we can support + cheer you on, but if you're like me and want to post daily so you don't make excuses to give up too soon, Instagram Stories is a great daily option along with normal captioned posts.
STEP 4 ANNOUNCE YOUR JOY
Then let your friends and followers on Instagram know that you're doing the project by sharing one of the free images below or creating your own. Tag your announcement with #FallIsComingProject so that other wonderful humans doing the project can find you. You're free to add a second unique hashtag for your specific project so that all of your posts will sit nicely together. If you choose that option, be sure to include both hashtags on every post. Organize your sacred space (whatever you need to do your project) and make time in your calendar.
Starting September 23, do your project and post every day if possible until Wednesday, January 2020. It's okay if you miss a day! And it's okay if you make it only a month and fall off then come back again. Keep going. However many days it takes you to do your project is perfect. Reading this after September 23? Any day is a good day to start your own #FallIsComingProject. But joining us live will be the most vibrant, friendship-driven way to find your joy this autumn. xo
Starting September 23, do your project and post every day if possible until Wednesday, January 2020. It's okay if you miss a day! And it's okay if you make it only a month and fall off then come back again. Keep going. However many days it takes you to do your project is perfect. Reading this after September 23? Any day is a good day to start your own #FallIsComingProject. But joining us live will be the most vibrant, friendship-driven way to find your joy this autumn. xo
Share below in the comments what are some of your daily joy ideas for the fall, and don't forget to drop a link to your Instagram so we can get joyous together!
FREE PHOTOS TO GRAB AND USE ON YOUR IG:
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