If nostalgia had a color, it would be that of September light.
That gorgeous sepia tone infiltrates this late summer/early fall month, making us all appear to glow with good health. It rustles up memories of Septembers of yore. A return to school. The seeds of new plans begetting new lives.
This is my most beloved stretch of year, from Labor Day weekend through Halloween, and even extending into November, mostly due to repeated viewings of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” and “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.”
As a kid, I counted down the days until school started every fall. New classes, new faces, new clothes, fresh notebooks, the promise of something I couldn’t quite pinpoint, but perhaps it would be magical and life-changing. The energy of fall is palpable, even now, as a person who hasn’t returned to school in what feels like a thousand flips of the calendar.
There is more time and space to dream in this golden time. I’d wager you might be getting more zzzs now that dark has overtaken the light, and the sun’s dagger rays don’t squeeze through the blinds, pierce your eyelids and steal you from your dreams. There’s time to live in the liminal space, that hazy, sticky field between the thresholds of our lives. Less sun and more moon means extra quiet and stillness for introspection, reflection and contemplation, all the good “tions.”
What I am suggesting to you is a bit of savoring. Appreciating. Sitting and soaking up what’s in front of you.
Savor. It’s one of my favorite words. A (bad? annoying?) habit of mine is exasperatedly saying the word “Savor!” while watching a friend scarf down delectable vittles. It physically pains me to watch them inhale said food item without thought, without even seeming to taste it. I watched in horror recently as my own mother scarfed a whole dark chocolate ginger candy in one go, whereas I would have stretched that pleasure out for three bites.
I bit my tongue and refrained from saying anything. I’m working to become less annoying. To each eater their own.
But that being said, I still say please fully give yourself over to the enjoyment of things you dream about, anticipate and finally consume. Use all five senses, if possible. This means you’ll have to slow down, something else I heartily recommend. Stretch out the moments of your bliss. Become fixated on your fixation, for you never know how long it will last.
With such teeming affection for the current September light and fall vibe, which will disappear like the dopamine- inducing contents of my childhood Halloween bucket, I keep reminding myself to not gloss over one second. Each fall hour is precious. Come mid-November returns the winter of my discontent, so sayeth John Steinbeck.
And while fall is my momentary fixation upon which to settle my appreciation, I ask: What is yours? What is grappling for your recognition and appreciation? Maybe it’s time to really burrow into a relationship with somebody you know won’t be around for much longer. Or relish the moments spent in a class of like-minded peers.
Maybe it’s closing your eyes and really tasting every bite of the perfectly ripened vegetables you toiled over all summer, or that last Colorado peach of the season. Or shutting your eyes to really take in a piece of music that has forever beguiled you. Or squeezing every moment out of the idyllic beginning of a love affair when everyone is smitten and all the world is rose-colored.
Whatever it is, sink in and allow it to envelop you.
Contact the writer: 636-0270
Your Privacy Choice
Comments are open to Gazette subscribers only