Changing Seasons, Changing Routines: Making Room for What's Next

There is something about September that makes me feel like it's time to get my life organized again. Maybe it's all those years of following the school calendar, but September still feels like the beginning of something new. The school buses are back on the roads. The mornings are getting chilly. The days are getting shorter. And I'm starting to realize the summer clothes hanging in my closet probably won't get much more use this year.

As I sort through my closet, I start thinking about how much our lives resemble this little seasonal ritual. We hold on to routines, expectations, and habits because they're familiar. They've worked for us before, so we assume they should continue working for us now. But just as we don't need our summer clothes in the middle of a Wisconsin winter, we don't necessarily need to carry every old routine into a new season of life.

Sometimes it's time to make a little room.

I think about all those things I wanted to do during the summer and never quite found the time for. The book I bought and haven't opened. The closet I've been meaning to organize. The project I keep putting off because something else always needs to be done.

During the summer, I spend so much time outdoors, working in the garden and enjoying the warm weather. But as the days grow shorter and the temperatures begin to drop, I find myself looking forward to spending a little more time indoors. Maybe this new season is exactly what I need to finally make time for some of those things that have been waiting on my list.

And maybe that's one of the nice things about the changing seasons. They give us a natural opportunity to shift our attention from one part of our lives to another.

One thing I enjoy about September is the feeling of getting back into a routine. School is back in session. Work schedules return to normal. Family routines change. And suddenly, the days begin to feel a little more predictable.

Whether we're still working, enjoying retirement, helping with grandchildren, or juggling a mix of responsibilities, it's easy to fall into the habit of moving from one responsibility to the next without stopping to ask whether our routines still work for us.

We get up, go to work, take care of the house, prepare meals, run errands, and do everything that needs to be done. Before we know it, another day has passed, and those things we've been wanting to do are still waiting.

But what if we approached this new season a little differently?

What if, instead of simply returning to our old routines, we created a little space for something new?

Maybe it's setting aside one evening a week for a hobby we've been wanting to try. Maybe it's taking a walk after work, meeting a friend for coffee, or finally signing up for that class we've been thinking about. Perhaps it's something as simple as spending thirty minutes each morning reading, journaling, or enjoying a quiet cup of coffee before the demands of the day begin.

We don't have to completely rearrange our lives to make room for something that brings us joy. Sometimes we just need to decide that it deserves a place on our calendar, too.

As I think about the coming months, I'm beginning to see this seasonal transition a little differently. Instead of focusing on everything I'm going to miss about summer, I'm trying to think about what I can look forward to in the fall.

There will be cozy mornings with a cup of coffee, cooler afternoons, and evenings when I can settle in with a good book or work on a project I've been putting off. There will be favorite sweaters to pull out of the closet, new routines to create, and perhaps a few old ones to reconsider.

Because here's something I've been learning: Just because we've always done something a certain way doesn't mean we have to keep doing it that way forever.

Maybe we've spent years believing that being busy means we're being productive. That taking time for ourselves is selfish. That once we reach a certain age, we should have everything figured out.

Or maybe we've simply become so comfortable with our routines that we've forgotten we have the freedom to change them.

But we do.

We can develop new interests. We can change how we spend our free time. We can decide that something we once enjoyed no longer fits the life we're living today. And we can begin to question some of those expectations we've carried around for years about what we should be doing and who we're supposed to be.

So, this week, I'll be switching out my closets, putting away a few summer things, and thinking about how I want to spend these cooler days ahead.

And as I make room for my favorite sweaters, I might just make a little room in my schedule for something I've been wanting to do.

After all, we don't have to wait until January to make a fresh start. We don't have to wait until retirement, until the kids are grown, until work slows down, or until everything in our lives is perfectly organized.

We can begin right where we are, with the time and opportunities we have today.

Maybe this fall isn't about doing more. Maybe it's about making a little more room for the things that matter to us.

And that sounds like a pretty good way to welcome a new season.