I welcome fall. Each new season brings with it the obvious pause to reflect on last year or the year before, and perhaps the future as well. But do we ever really sit still to breathe in the cooler breezes at sunset or marvel at the many shades of joy that can be gathered from a pile of fallen leaves?
Don”t be too quick to blow those leaves away. I encourage everyone to “sit a spell” as my Granny Gertrude used to say, especially this fall. It can be a time of renewal.
I think it”s a beautiful thing when we can make the world slow down just a little bit and make it revolve around us. Some call it selfish, but I say it”s a necessity nowadays. When I am stressed, my friends often turn my own advice back around to me with some positive affirmation such as, “Put on your own oxygen mask first before you can help others.” I realize it all sounds quite simple, but give some of these tips a chance this fall.
Do something for yourself. Begin a novel, frame those old photographs you have been meaning to get around to, eat dessert first or for no reason at all, try a bold shade of lipstick, or change your side part.
The point is for us to reclaim our self-worth and not focus only on how it”s measured through the things we do for others. What about what you do for that one person who never goes away — yourself?
Commission an artist to paint a portrait of you smiling from ear to ear, fall down on the grass to roll around in the leaves like you did when you were small, treat yourself to a movie and dinner for one every now and again. Run toward a newer, healthier more alive you.
Fall is a wonderful time for a new makeover. I should know this better than almost anyone. Try something different. A new perspective could be the very thing your soul is seeking, whether it”s a pampering salon day, a talk with an old friend you haven”t seen in years, or maybe writing a love letter to yourself.
Beauty resonates from within, so when the leaves begin to fall, fall in love with yourself again, or for the first time.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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