The Essence of Fall and its Impact
The weather is finally surrendering to ease and tranquility, which puts me in a conflicted mindset: on one hand, I’m eager to be able to spend longer hours with nature, while simultaneously dreading the hostility of anticipated winters, which always seems endless.
Fortunately, I still obtain the best of both worlds as the essence of autumn merely shows itself in the earliest of mornings and darkest of evenings while summer still takes hold of the afternoons.
This morning, I planned to write the final part of how to be a better conversationalist whilst being an introvert, alas, my brain holds little to no desire for such intellect today — sleep has been more so of an enemy of mine lately.
Instead, I’ve decided to allow my mind coast, once again, sharing with you what’s been keeping me on my toes and what’s been keeping me grounded, as well as what to expect throughout October.
I once read of this psychology experiment where the participants were only allowed to stay in bed once their mind quit the chatter it often engaged with; if the chatter continued, the participant would have to get out of bed until their mind was serene once more.
The purpose was to train their minds to adhere bed to a quiet mind and sleep.
I, however, don’t hold this much ambition for training my mind this way in order to obtain greater sleep, and in all honesty, I’d most likely be going back and forth for hours longer than I could bear.
I’ve really been enjoying Real Simple magazines, which I get new issues delivered monthly, and I recently read a section within the October issue of creating mini rituals for daily mundane tasks as we would more weighted ones.
For example, when we have an important meeting to attend, prior to, we may affirm ourselves and exercise a bit to have our adrenaline up for what’s to come.
The article states that creating rituals as such for mundane tasks as well will signal to our brain that the task ahead holds great importance.
And rituals in this sense is more synonymous with preparation than chanting and lighting an incense of patchouli, unless, of course, that’s your preparation for, I don’t know…calming yourself down before bed.
I, on the other hand, am more connected and inclined to be influenced by the mere serenity of music, so I began creating a playlist for my preparation for bed each night as I turn the lights down, un-make the bed for more comfort, and sit on the floor while setting my thoughts free in deep breathing.
It’s only been 2 or 3 days of doing so, which I haven’t noticed much of a difference yet in how I feel in the morning (perhaps a more organized morning preparation is needed!), though, falling asleep has went from taking over an hour to less than, which feels promising!
I haven’t been working since June, (which I can’t be grateful for enough!) living off savings and focusing my attention as passionately as I could on the things that matter most to me.
Since the seasons be changing before my very eyes, my mind is naturally inclined to peer back at these past few months in reflection.
I didn’t have a set-in-stone plan for this time I’d have on my hands, just a vague outlook of desiring growth and perseverance.
I’ll be honest, it’s been a quiet summer amidst longing for a positive change and advancement in my life.
And as I desired such drastic alters, I’d forgotten that stagnancy (as I held before me) is chance to regain stamina, a chance to plant seeds and deeply care for them in hopes of enthusiastic sprouts to show themselves when the time is right, and a chance to re-focus our perspectives.
Amidst my day-to-day life and finding a profound passion for cooking, I’ve learned to love the art of doing things for my future self: grating the parmesan a day before, rinsing the fruit before putting them in their new home, making a puree of cashew cream for the week for planned and spontaneous meals ahead —
And with this, cooking became even more enjoyable for me; grating a fresh parmesan became more of a tranquil and therapeutic experience than feeling anxious of the other tasks I had to do before cooking.
Pulling out a fresh, ready-to-eat cherry plum was like picking it right off the tree instead of remembering about pesticides and bugs right before consuming.
And just knowing that I have a base cream ready for me to make endless sauces bursting in flavor is simply just an amazing feeling in itself.
And since reflecting on the past few months, I realized I’d forgotten about this notion of doing things for your future self… in all frankness, I’d forgotten that a future self had existed at all.
I started reading Your Future Self by Hal Ersner-Hershfield, and merely being on page 17, I’m impressed, intrigued, and have a firm belief it is a book I can recommend!
I don’t know much about my own future, its containments, or my future self, but I do know that whatever sprouts show themselves and whatever may become of me, I want to ensure that the seeds I’ve planted blossom with flowers in lieu of weeds, and I want to ensure that future me is equipped to take care of what blossoms.
I spoke on this a few months back, but I have also been reading the bible through the JW app.
I deleted the post speaking on it because I was wrong in various ways of what I shared and made a judgement/assumption pre-maturely.
I’d also forgotten that, before diving into this subject, I’d made a promise to myself that I’d read this book front to back with as much of an open mind and heart as possible, which I didn’t maintain much in what I shared.
I don’t have much to say on the matter at this time, but I am beyond grateful of the growth I’ve obtained while seeking, and I only hope to continue to find greater fulfillment and enlightenment as I read throughout this poetic and inspiring book.
All this talk of the future and enlightenment is exciting, as I’ve been profoundly inspired of the world and my experiences within it lately that I’m eager to write you of:
How I’ve truly come to grasp the meaning of minimalism and the happiness I found within such understanding
The final part of being a better conversationalist as an introvert: mental minimalism
An epiphany I had at a thrift store one afternoon
My current take, understanding, and experience on conversation/communication
My most highlighted points in Celese Headlee’s book, We Need to Talk
Coming home to yourself
Friendship and a deep desire for connection
The topic of hate
and much more!
I hope you can be here for it!
Talk soon, friends, and I hope you have an amazing Friday where something good happens to you ❤
