The Happiness Box Initiative Autumn 2019

October is my favourite colour. Autumn is my favourite colour and yet, year after year I meet the season with anxiety. I decided to break away from that this year and putting new mindfulness skills to use, I followed the advice of Action for Happiness and declared September as “self-care September.”

Self-care September was life changing, in a good way that I am proud of. Over the summer, I made the loving decision to ask for help and at the end of September, my two-month program came to an end. I feel like a new person and I’m working on keeping it that way.

With these lessons in mind, I declare the whole season of autumn as a time for self-care. I find autumn as the breath of fresh air between the busy-ness of summer and winter and I want to enjoy all that Mother Nature has to offer. I’ve actively chosen to spend more time outside, photographing the changing leaves, and disconnecting from devices to play outside. Autumn is the perfect time to go to the playground, jump in the leaves, and swing through the crisp air. I feel most connected to nature and I get lost in all the pretty colours.

As the year is rushing forward and will be ending in two months, I am reflecting as I continue to fill my Happiness Box. I can’t believe how quickly this year flew by and while I can’t slow down time, I can choose how I spend it. While autumn is my favourite colour, there is a hard anniversary mixed in. Putting that self-care to work, I decided to take that day off and declare it as a National Day for Jessica. I’m excited for the day, a re-frame of the dread that I used to feel. I also accepted that however I feel at the given moment, I will allow myself to feel it.

Autumn is Nature’s last hurrah before Her wintry death. Isn’t it fitting that I shape dreadful moments from the past as golden hurrahs and time of triumph, before the rebirth occurs? I find Mother Nature’s cycles to be like our humanly cycles. Our feelings are tied to the seasons around us and by paying attention to what surrounds us, we can adjust accordingly.

I can’t wait to report back in the winter to how this all went. How will you spend your self-care autumn?