The First Day of Fall

Today is September 23rd, 2019, and that makes it the first day of Fall. I realize that not everyone lives in a location that showcases the traditional signs of the changing seasons, but around here it certainly does. Autumn is definitely my favorite time of year and this will be the first one with Ricky and I alone in our place, which makes it even more special.

I know a lot of people look forward to decorating their homes for the season and especially for Halloween. A lot of people either take their kids trick-or-treating or dress up themselves and go to costume parties. Others like to just pass out candy and watch scary movies. Then, of course, there are those that don’t celebrate Halloween, but enjoy the Fall season for the beautiful leaves, pumpkin pie flavored everything, and big comfy sweaters. So many people enjoy these things that it’s basically become a running joke. How ‘basic’ people like pumpkin pie spice lattes, ugg boots, or whatever. As if all your individuality is stripped from you if you happen to enjoy something that’s popular.

So whether we’re talking about Fall or anything else, just please let people enjoy things. If they happen to like things that a lot of other people like, that doesn’t necessarily mean their interest isn’t genuine. Are we really in a place socially that we feel we have to criticize everyone at every given opportunity? If you want to criticize someone, target people who are spreading misinformation, rude, or otherwise hurting others. Why breakdown harmless attempts at happiness?

At that same token, don’t feel like you need to fit some preconceived narrative about what you “should” be doing or how you “should” be acting. A couple years ago we stopped handing out Halloween candy. This may sound silly, but the decision actually caused some internal turmoil. It was just something we had always done. That’s what you do at Halloween. We even used to dress up Bandit (she had a signature bumblebee costume) and sit outside waiting to greet the kids. But we’re in a place now where we have a dog (Ember) that gets extremely anxious whenever someone comes near the house and Bandit is old and less comfortable around little strangers in her space than she once was. Then there’s the matter of buying the candy. It’s not even a vegan issue, as there are plenty of vegan-friendly candies we could buy. However, it’s just flat out expensive. To have enough to last the entire duration of trick-or-treating frankly costs more than I’d like to spend. So, considering all these things, we stopped and it felt amazing. It felt amazing to not spend the money, to not worry about the dogs, to not have to make sure I was available to answer the door, etc. My enjoyment of Halloween was drastically improved by not doing what I was ‘supposed’ to be doing.

I would encourage you to do what you have to do (or stop doing) so you can truly enjoy the season. If decorating brings you a lot of stress and miniscule joy than don’t! If you love pumpkin spice lattes than drink them and don’t worry about being perceived as ‘basic’. Enjoy the things that are meant for you and let other people enjoy the things that are meant for them. Life is hard enough. Lets indulge in the little things that can bring us a little happiness.