And . . . whoosh!
Just like that, October is here.
Which means it’s time for me to . . .
“Rituals are like electrically powered transmitters sending stimulating sparks of electric current or inspirational feelings that connect us to our inner being or soul.”
–
I’ve been thinking lately about . . . ritual.
Ritual . . . as in something we do intentionally every now and then to mark the new season or some other special shift in our lives. (As opposed to Habitual . . . as in something we do all the time without giving it much thought at all.)
Now that it’s fall — a new month, a new season — maybe you mark it with some sort of ritual?
I know I do! I call my ritual . . . “mums and pumpkins,” and it’s the day I set off each year to my favorite local nursery to pick up mums and pumpkins (bet you saw that one coming!) to decorate my house and garden for fall.
Me.
Last Friday.
In the parking lot, ready to go in for some mums and pumpkins.
I’ve been doing this every year – usually as September turns into October – for so many years I can’t even remember when I started. (My kids used to come with me. And they were excited about it. So you know it’s been a long, long time now. . . )
Going for mums and pumpkins is always like . . . The True Beginning of Fall for me.
Walking into that nursery, packed FULL of beautiful mums?
It’s like my very own Fall Party!
Mums and pumpkins. Cider and donuts.
Seasonal inspiration abounds.
(I pick up my bulbs, too.)
As I mentioned, in years gone by . . . going for mums and pumpkins was often An Occasion; something really special! A ritual.
I used to take my kids with me.
Sometimes I took my mom along.
Sometimes it was an outing for my best gardening buddy and me.
Now, I go alone.
But I don’t mind.
One of the best parts of having a personal ritual . . . is that it doesn’t need to end when your kids grown up. Or when your mom passes away. Or when your best gardening buddy gets Alzheimers. Because all of those memories . . . are wrapped up in the ritual, too!
Rituals . . . are breeding grounds for happy memories of days gone by. A way to connect with who you used to be, and who you used to be WITH, and who you are NOW.
Rituals . . . are good for the soul!
They connect us to who we ARE . . . at our very core.
I’ll bet you have some fall rituals of your own.
(Or maybe you used to?)
This year . . . Embrace them!
Make room for your fall rituals.
(Even if it means going solo.)
=====
October is here.
Don’t wait, my friends!
Start Your Engines!
I like your autumn ritual! Those mums look incredible! (and thanks for the bulb reminder!)
That garden center looks AMAZING!!!! I really need to get out soon and check out some of ours.
I definitely have rituals for the seasons.
I’m trying to make a ritual for the morning that I suppose will turn into a habitual, but I’d like to have my first 20-30 minutes in the morning be tea and knitting time.
Today it worked out. Tomorrow???? Well, we’ll see.
Mums are not part of my ritual unless you count my killing them every year as part of it, but I do go for pumpkins and witches in a big way. I also like skeletons (back gate) and ghosts (front mat). October 1st all my witch, etc. paraphernalia is in place! (Chai tea and zucchini bread are also in play this month – pumpkin flavor-ick).
This is such a lovely ritual! When I was a kid, we used to go out to a local orchard in mid-October to get apples, cider, our Halloween pumpkins, and often some treats (caramel apples were my favorite). It was how I knew fall had truly arrived. Unfortunately too many other people discovered this place, so it’s now mobbed — the last time I was there in October, my daughter was small enough to be in a carrier!
My ritual this time of year is making myself a cup of tea when I get home from picking my daughter up at school. It’s usually cooled off just enough to sip it through the last hour of my work day.
I love this idea of ritual and I feel like I am in the right place to begin to nurture some new rituals now that I am really settling into retirement. I love mums and pumpkins.
This is a lovely and seasonally appropriate ritual, thank you for taking us along with you! One of my fall rituals is to bake an apple pie and I made one yesterday.
We have a mums and pumpkin ritual as well and are considering a new one. We’re headed to a good size county fair later this week. Should be fun!
This is a lovely ritual and you are so lucky to have such a wonderful nursery nearby so you can perform the ritual. I do have a similar place, but it’s more than an hour away. But I have designated this week as the one where I get my mums and pumpkin, now that it’s finally real fall weather. We used to have a fall ritual of going to the nearby orchard to pick apples and get fresh-pressed cider; I miss that! Also, there is a book entitled Ritual by Dimitris Xygalatas that I have on my list. I haven’t read it yet but I’m hoping it will help me better consider rituals I do or ones I could be doing.
I’d love to have a place like that to go! I need bulbs too.
I took my great nieces last week to the local nursery for little pumpkins. I had already bought a mum which got drenched by the rain and looks like crap now. It was beautiful for a few weeks. It is so fun to walk through the nursery and see all the fall colors.
Those MUMS! (and I’m so glad you were able to get out again for your ritual!) I started brewing chai tea last week, and today, I put the quilts back on the bed and the “warm” sheets. Hello October!
Same as you, Kym! Finally found a pumpkin yesterday with its cute stem still intact. And also started with the chai tea – and I thought that was just me.…. Christmas shopping rituals, on the other hand are already getting trampled on. Since the Halloween decor shelves are already near empty and one must hurry quickly to grab the best mantel and shelf Christmasiana. (Not a word but it does the job.) Chloe
I love thinking about ritual. Contrasting it with habitual is so appropriate. One of our fall rituals is driving down to a Nebraska City orchard to buy fresh apples. Next year though we are going to have to go earlier. The day we went, just after the fall festival weekend, they were out of apple cider doughnuts. I know. I’ve also been thinking about tweaking my morning writing routine so it begins with a ritual.
What a beautiful way to put it.