Fall as a Feeling
When I really think about fall … there’s just a vibe to it. A romance. Doesn’t it just lure you in? The moody mystery of it. Everything starts to darken. Colors grow deeper. A quietness settles in. The first mornings with a crisp chill in the air fill me with a peaceful excitement, and I find myself letting go of the parts of summer that stifled me. The mist coming off the horizon feels oddly hopeful. A fog rolls in, encouraging reflection.
Fall is so sweet because it invites you to come in (into your home and into yourself), curl up, and savor sweet moments.
I’m always ready. Waiting. The heat of late summer in North Carolina lingers and lingers … and lingers. It feels as if it might never end. Once October hits and it’s still pushing 90 degrees … I start to die a little more each day. Everything just feels so uninspired.
BUT, once fall finally, actually arrives, it brings a renewed energy with it. Not the same kind of rebirth that spring brings, but rather a quieter creative buzz that grows from the inside out. Can you feel it?
I talk about this every year ~ it probably gets old ~ but with each passing year, I settle a little further into the sureness of it. I want fall to FEEL like fall.
The older I get, the more I realize that all I ever truly want is for my soul to be able to breathe. There is so much noise in this life. So many things vying for our attention. So many to-dos. It’s like … I just crave something a little more pared down.
There’s something about overdoing the fall decor that feels unnatural to me. Maybe even uncomfortable. Over time, I just felt … chafed by it. I can’t explain it perfectly. But once I listened to my instinct and accepted it, I realized what I truly wanted was a feeling. Then, I started decorating for that feeling instead of just with stuff. Each year, I put out less and less, and my fall bin grows lighter. Yet, somehow, my home feels more like fall, not less.
The vibe I’m craving this fall …
[All images are from Pinterest and I could not find the original sources to link]
There can be the sweetest ritual to welcoming a new season. Rather than viewing fall decorating as another to-do, I prefer to view it as a changing of the guard. Fall-scented candles come out. Warmer, fuzzier blankets come out. Soup returns to the dinner line-up. The fireplace comes on. The light dances through the windows in a completely different way. The morning air starts to bite. The leaves start falling.
I’ve written about decorating with your senses (too many times, lol), so I won’t dive into all the specifics again. You can read more about that here and here. It’s so simple, honestly.
Fall naturally draws us back in. Back to the people we love. The season itself seems to be telling us to notice, layer, settle, reflect, create. And to gather around the table in companionship and love.
A little inspiration for gathering this season …
Fall. Embrace the wonder of it. Notice the meaning under the beauty.
