Every season here in northern California has its signature traits. Spring brings about green hills in every direction and beautiful, colorful flowers. Summer season usually greets the area with dry, brown surroundings, but gardens are full of summer fruits and veggies. Winter comes with cool days and even cooler nights, and the decorations during this time of year always make my kiddos smile. But fall is my personal all-time favorite season. And for its many metaphors and meaning, it’s important that everyone celebrate and decorate for the fall season.
Fall Is More Than The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!
I may be dating myself, but my brother and I have watched It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown more times than I’d like to count. But fall is so much more than pumpkin spice lattes, way more than Candy Corn (which I confess, I really like!), more than Halloween and even carving pumpkins for the front porch. All of those tasty treats and festivities are fun, but the fall season is a metaphor about life that we should not so quickly cover up with Halloween candy, hay rides at the pumpkin patch, or Charles Schultz classics.
What Is So Special About Fall
Fall, which is also referred to as Autumn, is the time between the end of September and the latter part of December. It used to be referred to as the Harvest because farmers collected their crops for the winter during this time of year. It is a time associated with preparation. And on the Autumnal Equinox, day and night each last for twelve hours, which can be seen as nature’s way of reminding us to find balance in life. Do any of you need that reminder to find the balance in our busy lives? I know I do, like all of the time.
Fall is a time of transformation, and our environment during this time of year is such a powerful portrayal of that. As the leaves turn yellow, orange, and red, it is a reminder that we are also ever-changing, ever-transforming. We, like our environment, have seasons in our own lives. We have times of revving up, of increased energy and vitamin-D enriched times, often experienced in summer. But we also have times of wanting to slow down, of needing to change our pace of life, and of nestling in. Fall, although a season surrounded with many of the busiest holidays, is the start of shifting wardrobes and changing activities. We begin to go in during the fall. The cooler climate has us inside most of the time, but it is also a good time to go within ourselves, in preparation for the craziness of the holidays and what those holidays really mean in the first place.
Autumn is the perfect time for remembering what is most important: time together with loved ones, gathering together and being with one another in community. It is a time to start a fire in the fireplace, light the fall-scented candles, and cuddle up with your kiddos under the fuzzy blankets that have been stored all summer.
Why I Love Decorating in the Fall
There are many reasons why you should decorate your home for the fall season. As a mama who typically does her autumn decorating on the first day of the season, I am here to tell you that bringing the sights of the outside inside your home brings so much joy and anticipation for the whole family.
When my kids come home from school and see that the house is festively decorated with pumpkins, scarecrows, and fall wreaths and garlands, they instantly get excited. They know that when mom puts out the fall decorations, it also means that all of their favorite times of the year are coming. Halloween is celebrated in our home but I opt out of decorating with anything scary or spooky. But Thanksgiving is one of my kiddos’ favorite days of the whole year, because it means that we are together all day, cooking and filling the entire home with some of the most delicious smells. Fall time means that the fireplace will soon be on every morning when they wake up, so that they can warm their toes on the hearth. Fall decorations in our home mean that we will be baking homemade chocolate chip pumpkin bread and that Daddy will be making big batches of his famous chicken soup. And the decorations that we bring out each year reminds my family of the traditions that we have established during these autumn months. Traditions like multiple pumpkin patch visits, roasting pumpkin seeds from our freshly-carved pumpkins (I think that’s such a tedious task, by the way!), and enjoying family movie night in the glow of my favorite soy pumpkin spice candle. It’s a nostalgia that I hope will carry on in my children’s lives when they are grown and have families of their own.
But decorating for fall can, if nothing else, be a powerful reminder of the changes that every being, every organism, and even every tree go through in life. Sometimes I think that we can get discouraged when life keeps throwing us curve balls and odd balls. So every time I look at my fall decorations, I am reminded that change is all part of the journey of this life. It’s normal to go through ebbs and flows and highs and lows. We are meant to. But if we get frustrated that life never seems to stand still, then we can miss the blessing in the mess. Season changes are our visual reminders that it’s not only part of the plan, it’s essential for future growth, expansion and gratitude.
I once heard a saying that has stuck with me for decades: “You have to go in to go out.” This means that we need to recharge inside in order to get back out into the craziness of the outside world. If that’s the case, then why not create our inside to represent the metaphors of the outside? So put a little orange, yellow, and red in your home this fall season. And then pay attention to the meaning it represents for you and your family.
