The first month of the calendar year always seems to draw reflection and represent new beginnings for all, and rightfully so. Whether you believe in making New Year’s resolutions, starting a new diet, or creating #goals or not, there is something quite inspiring about the month of January.

February through August, we are all fighting to either keep those resolutions, stay on our new diet, find ways to meet those goals, or have given up altogether. We fight the cold weather and the colds that go along with it; battle the heat of the summer and greet the hay fever blues.

And then it happens. Every single year it happens. Sweet September. The remarkable month of do-over, and the onset of Autumn. Oh, I know for most people it’s just another month, but for The Fam and me, this is the “other January”.

It is the month of controversy most certainly! This is the month people start to ask, “how early is too early to put up fall decorations?” or “we’re starting pumpkin spice everything already?” But not for us. Oh noooooo. We already know the answers to those intolerable questions! It’s NEVER too early, and pumpkin spice everything should be year-round!

September is the beginning of the best season in my family! We know Fall Family Day awaits; that Thanksgiving - THE most important holiday for us - is right around the corner; that the RenFest will be there to greet us as we enter the gates, ready to embark upon imagination and excitement in yet another day we assemble as a crest.

September is the forgiving month of old resolutions to fresh perspective! Gone are all the grumblings of yesteryear, and present is the arrival of seasonal smiles and joy in our surroundings. Grill marks change to roasted hues with intense aroma filling the house. Brights, be gone! It’s shades of gold and warm tones coming our way! Scarves of plaid and wide-brimmed hats for all, thank you very much! In-coming are the sights and sounds of hayrides, pumpkin patches, warm breezes, and giving thanks! Celebration for what’s to come begins to rise up in our very souls!

Yes, like a woman-with-child we wait for the ninth month to arrive, knowing full well it will give birth to our seasonal baby. We treat it intentionally, and with tender-loving-care. We collaborate our design for the remaining months of the calendar year as though our lives depend on it.

Up we go into the attic, and down comes the perennial leaves and plastic gourds. Sure, October may mean a skeleton or two coming out of the closet, but that is in accordance with what we have already displayed for our celebration of what is essentially our New Year!

September is crucial! It is essentially the month that starts the traverse to December, which harbors its own celebration. Without September, we would have no gracious entrance into Autumm. We would crash over into October from August without any finesse, like a belly flop into an empty pool.

September also gives us pause. It is a time of reflection and insight. Like a fall harvest, it is when we feel the most growth, individually and as a family. It is when we cultivate our connection and build our bond with intense purpose. It is the sound of the great love we share for one another at another octave.

Whatever time of year, be sure to create a season for your own growth and intention so that you appreciate the blessings you’re surrounded with. For us, that’s September.

We are ever-so-grateful this month comes around annually. It is “the other January”, but with a bigger and better expression and nostalgia. It is a newer beginning.

Yes. September holds the key that unlocks the door to one of the greatest years of our lives. Every year.

For the sake of this blog post, I did a quick (un-sanctioned, non-governmental) poll. The poll consisted of fifty people. Some I knew, some I did not. Some lived in my region and some lived in other parts of the country.

I simply asked them what their favorite time of year (or season) was. Out of fifty people, they all had the same answer: Autumn! So, fifty-out-of-fifty people all prefer this time of year! That’s some reputation for a season!

I am among those people. This is the time of year for The Fam when we have our Annual Fall Family Day (NOT Family Fall Day, which means something different entirely!), my birthday, and two of The Kiddo’s birthdays are celebrated, and of course, the holy grail of holidays for my family comes into the Autumnal category: THANKSGIVING!

Some people like it because the leaves turn jewel-tone colors; others simply love the cooler weather. The pumpkin spice smells, and the chili cooking in everyone’s biggest pot in the kitchen doesn’t hurt, either! Is it the overcast, melancholy days that make us want to curl up in the quiet with a good book? There is something special about the energy in the air, regardless of the reason so many people choose it as their favorite.

So why did I want to know in the first place, you ask? Well, it seems that the energy in people changes a bit as well. Though it starts to be a very busy season for all, people somehow seem more nostalgic and even a bit more subdued to me. I notice more grace; more ‘warm fuzzies’. What is it about a season that can make this change in us?

When I think about that question, I think about seasons in our life. Not the kind that comes with a solstice, but rather the seasons that come with growth. I think I can explain it better by sharing an excerpt out of my eBook, ‘Extra Ingredients to A Life of Flavor’:

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The seasons of people that have affected me negatively have engrained in me to be positive.

The seasons of people that have affected me positively have instilled a sense of community and love within me.

We have all had the relationship or relationships that have placed fear or mistrust in us at least once. We have seen seasons of loss and of life. Such is this broken-but-beautiful world.

But the main point from all of it that I have learned and desire to pass on is that every single one of them are valuable and crucial to who we allow ourselves to become.

There are many different circumstances that cause season changes – some of them good and tasty; some of them not-so-good that leave a sour taste in our mouth. Either way, seasons come and go, and they consistently change us.

I have had so many seasonings sprinkled throughout my time here that have shaped me and helped create both my living legacy and the one I leave behind. I can tell you that not all of those seasonings have been ones that I care to recall, though it’s important to my heart and as part of my faith that I do, so that they don’t steal my joy.

Is there a friendship you used to count on daily that has fizzled out and you’re not sure why?

Or perhaps there is a family member you confided in that shared your vulnerability with someone else. Maybe it’s just as simple as someone you love and admire moving to a different place.

And then there’s the accountability factor: what if you are the person that doesn’t feel the same toward a friend, or who abandoned a trust somehow – whether knowingly or not – or had to move away from a loved-one? These seasonings of life happen to all of us – no one is immune.

What do we do with that? We cannot allow these times to make us bitter, but rather to make us better. Making our tiny life mighty depends on that.

Whenever I refer to certain people or times or memories from my own past, I almost always call those seasons ‘seasonings’ because they craft the life of flavor we choose to live. Whether it’s salty or sweet, they’re important to the recipe that creates you.

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So, whether you’re one of the fifty-out-of-fifty people that loves Autumn as your favorite season, or you happen to be a beach lover in the hottest months of the year, know that what you do with the seasons of life that come your way is the most important way to grow. Make your tiny life mighty – with every single season.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill {defend}, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; ...” ~Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” ~Genesis 8:22

“At no other time (than autumn) does the earth let itself be inhaled in one smell, the ripe earth; in a smell that is in no way inferior to the smell of the sea, bitter where it borders on taste, and more honeysweet where you feel it touching the first sounds. Containing depth within itself, darkness, something of the grave almost.” ~Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters on Cézanne

THE "OTHER JANUARY"

SEASONS CHANGE