Missing..

Good evening everyone! Hope you’ve been having a great Labor Day weekend 🙂 Cannot believe we are into September and that summer’s last few days are slipping by. Waking up for work at 5 a.m. I know when the seasons are changing. Its the difference between a sunrise wake-up and waking up to darkness. I try not to get caught up in it, but I can’t ignore the signs that the seasons are changing and that things are not the same.

I feel like when this is a difficult time of year for me. For the last 19 years, I have started a new school year in Sepetember. September always means change; new schedule, new routine, new priorities. Part of me loves the change because, let’s face it, I’m a huge school nerd

(Jenna and I at Emmanuel College Graduation ’09)

Part of me also start to freak out, think small child kicking and screaming, come September 1st. I associate summer with freedom, relaxation, leisure, birthdays, happiness, and care.free.fun. Being someone who tends to get a little high-strung, summers are my personal therapy. Soaking in the warm, vitamin-d providing sunshine and sitting on beaches is my paradise. So when I think about September, I think about loosing all of those things. I think about becoming my too-serious-self. I think about being over-scheduled and over-stressed. I know this is no way to live, but it’s how I become, inevitably, a few weeks into the semester.

I want this year to be different. Doesn’t everyone say that at the beggining of a school year, or on New Years Day, or on their birthdays.

Well I am serious.

I am re-writing the way these fall days and winter ones go. I am running a 5k next Sunday. I am going to get EXCITED about fall things, like apple picking, county fairs (yes, Massachusetts has those), getting fit in cool and bearable temperatures, yoga, and fall cookin’. I’m going to keep going on my fitness goals while balancing out grad school, work, and a social life. My nerdy-type-A Excel spreadsheet of my fall schedule is going to good use to show me when I am free to do things that make me happy. I am going to be kind to myself and take care of my physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. I am going to respect my limits and not overwork myself or stretch myself too thin. More on these changes as they come but I want to say it here so you can all hold me accountable for these changes.

I also want them to benefit those of you who read my blog. I know that I will be busier and thus blogging regularly will be more difficult, but I want my posts to give back to all of you a little. Maybe there will be more pictures and less words. Or maybe I can have a few recipes for you as I am endeavoring into more mindful and kind eating (starting to experiment with vegetarianism). I would also love to share with you some of what I am learning in my grad classes about the mind-body relationship and how we can focus more on well-care than sick-care.

No matter what, I hope you can keep reading and come back even when there are days that I am missing. Know that I love blogging and have you follow me, and I’ll never be missing for too long.

Question of the evening: Is there a time of year that causes you more stress than others? If so, what time and why do you think that is? Any suggestions for ideas for changing those thoughts and habits?

Have a great night everyone and enjoy the holiday tomorrow!!

lots of love,

-Em