Presently
Presently is a little collection of my favorites things this season; simple joys and ideas worth sharing around the topic of living a more soulful, heart-centered life.
In this autumn season, I am presently…
Honoring
…my favorite season by going for stroller walks with my youngest a few times a week. I really enjoy taking photos of the scenery on our walks, because it helps me to really notice all of the beauty around me and how much things change week to week. Photography can be an excellent mindfulness tool in this way.
Releasing
…the nonessentials. I feel a big urge to pare down and declutter this time of year. Maybe it’s the holidays coming up or maybe it’s just preparing to spend more time at home and indoors as the weather get colder. Before having children, I was into minimalism but over the years the stuff has just crept back in. We’ve just been in survival mode for a long time, but lately I’m feeling pulled to simplify, get back to basics, and really revisit my values of what intentional living looks and feels like for me in this season of life.
I really enjoyed watching this video about home organization from an interior design perspective. Caroline is hilarious and her tips are game-changing. Especially the point she made about making organization systems adhere to the habits that people living in your house already have, instead of trying to change everyone’s behavior to fit a new organization system. Briliant!
Slowing Down
…by choice some, but mostly, by force. This journal is getting published a whole month behind schedule. It’s been a hectic October and November, topped off with the worst cold & flu season we’ve yet experienced as parents. As I write this, I’m just getting over a nasty sinus infection myself. For weeks, I’ve had to make cost-benefit analyses daily and each time it seems my creative work has fallen to the bottom of the priority list. It’s been so frustrating! Yet also, now that it’s getting dark outside before 5pm, my energy and motivation levels have been waning along with the daylight hours. So maybe getting sick (and getting a couple days of good rest thanks to my husband!) was exactly what I needed before the final push of getting this last journal of the year out into the world. But mark my words, from now until autumn officially ends at the next solstice, I will be slowing down more intentionally, taking stock of the year and tying up loose ends to prepare for the winter ahead.