It seems like everyone is loving Autumn at the moment. Social media makes it sound like everyone is running through piles of leaves with the perfect berry lip, drinking hot chocolate and smelling like cinnamon. Everyone is instagramming pictures of dead leaves and I'm pretty sure pumpkin emojis are building an army and taking over all twitter handles. Autumn has become the 'cool' season, the season the biggest fashion bloggers rave about and all the lifestyle bloggers write about.
I know I am one of them, I have fallen victim to Autumn's golden charm. But I think the thing with the colder seasons is that they require effort. You can't really enjoy a crisp Autumn walk without at least an hour of cold weather preparation and positive attitude building beforehand. An enjoyable evening needs the blanket level to be just right and a good book to make up for the mediocre hot chocolate you just pretended was amazing on instagram. I wrote the post '10 Things To Do This Autumn' to inspire myself to make the most of the season because without doing those things you can easily let the short days pass by in a rather depressing cycle.
This time of year isn't always candles and fairy lights, sometimes its loneliness, darkness and cold. When you're living with a mental illness or are just having a bit of a bad time it isn't always easy to gather the motivation to enjoy the season, and that's ok too. Try not to get swept up in the idea that everyone is having an amazing time by the looks of their Instagram feed.
This time of year isn't always candles and fairy lights, sometimes its loneliness, darkness and cold. When you're living with a mental illness or are just having a bit of a bad time it isn't always easy to gather the motivation to enjoy the season, and that's ok too. Try not to get swept up in the idea that everyone is having an amazing time by the looks of their Instagram feed.
Despite all this I think I would still choose Autumn as my favourite season as it requires you to do the work to make the most of it. It makes you look for the beauty and then look for it again and you better appreciate it in the moment, because it won't look the same tomorrow. You have to wake up and inspire yourself to make the most of the day you are given even if the wind and cold is shouting at you to get back into bed.
"October extinguished itself in a rush of howling winds and driving rain and November arrived, cold as frozen iron, with hard frosts every morning and icy drafts that bit at exposed hands and faces" -J.K Rowling