I find myself needing more pep talks than I used to.
There is an Inner Sloth that seems to subsume me and is seemingly quite content to allow me to wallow about, dithering here, blathering there. And by blathering, I’m talking about the out-loud conversations I unexpectedly find Myself having with Me. Oh dear doctor…
But once again, September has arrived. Back to School!
I have a chance to turn to a fresh white Page!
Sharpen the pencils!
Grab those great Crayolas!
The air is crisp and speaks of the sugary release of leaves and the yellow-brown dying of grasses. The blue skies are a deeper, cooler blue, hinting of the winter to come.
I think about my Crockpot, my new boots, my warm jacket, the golden glow of the fireplace and it all makes me feel ready to hunker down with fresh fall hope. A chance to start again.
Today is the first day of the rest of my life.
It is such a bumper sticker of a quote. Such a Pollyanna platitude. So sue me. I don’t care. I cling to that quote, like a drowning woman hangs on a raft. It is a large sea out there and sometimes I need a rudder, a direction, a chart…a demarcation that says, here is your chance Colleen, here is your chance to start over and to create something Brand Spanking New.
And somehow, by pulling on my September socks, I feel myself more capable of striding forward.
I’m cinching up my shoes. Heading out the door. Getting on with my life.
Thank you for sharing in my Inner Pep Talk. I guess now this makes it more of an Outer Pep Talk. But for me, this is so much better than walking around the house and mumbling this stuff…
Doesn’t it look more official, more possible, more doable, when it’s in print?
Guess what?
Today is the first day of the rest of your life. What are you going to do?
Love everyone’s comments and this fresh, colorful time of year. I read somewhere that Northern peoples tend to think of fall as their ‘beginning’ season, rather than spring. Certainly has always been a season of anticipation for me!
Hi Lesley. I’m enjoying everyone’s comments too. What a smart bunch of people, eh? I like the Northern peoples fact. I didn’t know that it was such a part of the general zeitgeist of living in the Great White North 🙂 Some of my best fall memories are from Ontario, I’m sure the leaves will soon be spectacular out there. Enjoy it for me please 🙂
I’ve been quoting that bumper sticker a lot lately. Today, I’m going to appreciate my family. Talk to them, not at them. I’m going to do my work with ease and release the sense of panic or anxiety or negativity that sometimes hovers over the work. Replace fear with love. Remember that it’s fun. Remember that it’s LIFE.
Thank you for asking and allowing us to share in your pep talk.
ps, I adore your butterflies. 🙂
Hey Angie, my butterfly-lovin’-bumper-sticker-quoting-sister, I feel I’m in good company!
I like your goals, especially ‘talk to them and with them, not AT them’ and replacing fear with love. I believe that anxiety, panic and negativity are simply fear dressed in different outfits (most of them shroud-like and very unflattering to boot!)
My new mantra today is going to be, “Remember that it’s life.” Love it!
Thank you for adding your thoughts to this conversation. It’s very appreciated.
Lovely conversation to self! Yes, since the fall has creeped in to
the air, and you feel almost cosy inside now, rather than the heat
of last month. I love September, it is so clean, beautiful, the air is
fresher, like you said new beginnings! Thanks for your thoughts,
right there with you!
Laurie, that’s it. The air feels like it has more oxygen somehow. And yes, clean is a good word for it. Like laundry snapping on the line. Nice to know others feel that same new school/crisp edge to these September days. Love, love the cool nights and the excuse to pile on quilts 🙂
What am I going to do? What I should have been doing years ago – nothing!
(Well, maybe I’ll look at your great Davis Bay Bus Stop picture for a while.)
Mr. Sell…I do believe you are actually incapable of doing nada. Probably much to your dismay but nonetheless, I stand by my assesment!
And thank you, I agree that it’s a pretty wonderful photo. I love those crazy chairs. I prefer them over the ‘real’ bus shelters.
What you need is a two-month long writers workshop with Carol and Michele! Seriously! Let’s get our books DONE.
Carole. You are an epic temptress. That would be amazing. I am starting with a three-week residency in Oaxaca on September 30th. Onward to Puerto Escondido after that, where further writing may occur if All the Stars Align. Who knows what’s possible?
I dug out my cozy moccasins and put in a few hours in front of my computer with a coffee this morning. Yup, morning. That hadn’t happened in a while. I plan to keep it up. Good luck Colleen.
Good MORNING Margot. Good for you on your new Autumnal Schedule. I’ve decided part of my new plan is to more often say yes, than no. Looking forward to how it goes.
Thanks for the good luck wishes. May the Gods be ever in your favour as well. Onward!
I too am looking forward to the wearing of the socks. Also, must meet my next deadline of October. School IS in session, and I suddenly have a 280-page ‘paper’ due, having lollygagged through the slog of August and used the excuse of July heat. So, yeah, here we go – except, if that was my bus stop? I’d never get on (Is it real?)
Sarah. I think the Donning of the Socks needs more of a commmorative ritual. Perhaps accompanied by howling heathered winds from a lone keening Scottish bagpiper. Or maybe that’s a touch overwrought (not to mention, overwritten).
As for the bus stop? I am planning on photographing more of our fabulous bus stops here on the Sunshine Coast. There are some rather quirky interpretations of the ideal chair for waiting. Residents contribute random chairs along the highway. Not all of them hold up 🙂