Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let things go. ~Unknown 

As we enter September, I am getting excited for my favorite season to begin. Maybe it is because I have a late September birthday, but I just love autumn. There is something about the cooler temperatures and the leaves changing colors that lights me up inside. I feel more alive and filled with a happy energy—quite similar to the excitement that spring delivers. Perhaps it’s because I always associate fall with new beginnings—so many years of first days of school, meeting new teachers, making new friends. It feels like a time when we can reinvent ourselves—let go of old ideas, old constructs, old styles and start to become more of our true, authentic selves. Much like how the leaves easily let go of the trees, we can learn to release bad attitudes, bad ideas, bad relationships...  

Autumn is also a time to follow nature’s lead and begin to go inward, to prepare for the quiet introspection winter will bring. Finding a new fitness routine can help with that—spending time improving yourself physically can have positive effects on all aspects of your being. In this issue, we highlight two local holistic businesses offering wonderful fitness options.   

I invite you to think about what autumn means to you. What feelings or images does it conjure up? In Living Life in Full Color, Marlaina Donato encourages us to let autumn inspire us to live out loud, in full color, much like the trees as their leaves turn to bright reds, yellows and golds: 

As children, it was in our nature to live out loud. We sang off-key, belly-laughed and showed off our blueberry-stained tongues. Somewhere between grade school and adolescence, we learned to swim with the social current, content to blend in for comfort.  

As adults, too often we are barely aware of our lives stuck in grayscale, but if we look deep inside, we long to be the brave red rose in a black-and-white world. Sometimes it takes something drastic, like being faced with a terminal illness, to throw off the shackles of, “What would they think?” and follow our own brand of bliss. Hopefully, most of us can make that decision without such a drastic wake-up call. 

In many parts of the world, nature saves her best for last and pulls out all the stops (in autumn). She dresses the trees in unapologetic glory, inviting us to live more boldly before it’s too late, and to express the passions we’ve held in for dear life. If we are wise, we will follow our bliss, whether it’s painting that wall in a color that might compromise resale value or dusting off the violin we set aside after high school. Autumn gives us much-needed permission to let our hair down, let our locks go silver or feisty red, let our souls blow in the wind and come in for dinner a little late and disheveled.   

What parts of ourselves do we hold inside for fear of standing out a little too much? What would we wear if we defied fickle trends? How would we love if we realized that there is nothing more important than embodying love? 

Here’s to living in full color, come what may. 

What does living out loud, in full color mean to you? And what choices will you make today to begin living that way? 

Happy Fall, Y’all and Happy Reading, 

Jessica