September joined her place in the year with flourish. She’s not taking a backseat to summer or fall. September is a beautiful month, full of teasing transitions. Still want it to be summer? Here’s a first-week-of-September heat wave for you. Ready for pumpkin spice and sweater weather? On the way next week. September signals the beginning of the last quarter of the year. Four months of fall’s glorious colors, cozy nights, festive holidays, and a preview of the winter ahead of us. It’s time to both get moving before the snow flies and to hunker down in hygge. Oh, calendar gods, I do love this time of year. September is the best time of year to make some kind of plan or pact with oneself to make sure these months don’t just unfold without longings fulfilled or fly by in a blur. For me, September is the perfect month for a reset.

Calling my plan a “reset” feels a little cringe to me. It’s an influencer word and social media platforms are bursting with 20-somethings touting their “resets.” But this 60-something woman takes license to approach this from the retirement perspective. I won’t be talking about deep cleaning my house, changing out my wardrobe, baking all-things-pumpkin, or adjusting my make-up routine. There’s nothing wrong with those reset topics, but this isn’t a blogpost for that. What I will do is take you along as I recalibrate my actions in my retirement. Remember when that nice lady voice on your GPS would say “Recalculating your route” when you wanted to go in a slightly different direction? It’s like that. Having a plan for what I want to enjoy or accomplish and divesting myself of practices that no longer serve me or the rhythm of the season seems vital. The way I experience time is different for me in retirement, and it’s different for me during different seasons of the year, too. The big question for me is how can I experience the months that close out 2023 in ways that nourish my mind, body, and spirit? And through those adjustments, maybe I’ll find some new motivation to prepare for The Precious Days of the long winter season ahead. Readers, what a gift September is for preparing for another season of retirement with as much purpose and joy as possible…considering the inevitable ups and downs of life.

Affirming My “Why”

I responded to a reader who had commented on About this Summer with some thoughts to provide some insight into why I am wired this way. Going to school as a student and my years as a professional educator combine for a total of six decades. I am so seasonally driven. My own rhythms of retirement make it clear that adjustments in these initial years during each season as well as more deeply understanding how I am affected by seasonal change are important insights for me. I wrote to her that “Losing and finding myself in those rhythms and adjustments has become part of my journey into this new chapter in my life. I am continuing to explore, be curious, and kind to myself. Most of all, I am just trying to follow my own flow -- questioning and discovering here and there.” It’s the questioning and discovering through seizing opportunities for reflection that drive The Precious Days blog content.

Reset for both Mind and Mindset

I am actually feeling pretty positive about my mindset going into this season. I am feeling that opportunities for learning and growth are abundant this time of year. I am continuing to read and enjoy lots of good fiction. But during the summer I gave up my routine of sitting for an hour each morning with my Common Place Journal and some rich nonfiction. As the calendar changed from August to September, I returned to that ritual and it feels good. September is the last month of my Women Rowing North Alumni Writing Group. True confessions — I am worried about not having that group of women in my life to challenge my thinking, to inspire me, and to support me. It has been such an important part of my life. I have three learning adventures in writing that I can take on, but I think they might be better for winter. One is the BBC Maestro poetry course. Another is Kerry Clare’s online blogging class. And I have the six-week Write for Life course by Julia Cameron I can wade into. Lots of options and I am sure I will discover more. This reset is needed to get back into nonfiction and some more formal learning.

Decluttering is so helpful for the mind and mindset, so my husband and I will be continuing our Swedish Death Cleaning when the temperatures remain cooler. I made a checklist.

And I know my focus in this area of mind and mindset could be greatly enhanced by adding one more thing to this reset. I need to limit my mindless scrolling on IG and watching random YouTube videos. I am committed to keeping my i-pad out of the bedroom, or at the very least out of reach (because I do have sleep playlists I like).

Reset for a Healthy Heart, Brain, and Body

Uh boy. This area of my life is in desperate need of a reset. Optimal physical health is paramount to me, so why do I keep treating it like a hobby? I need to go into this last part of 2023 with a firm resolve to put my health first. I treated this summer like one long trip to a country fair: lots of ice cream and creemees—often with hot fudge, vegan burgers and vegan hotdogs in soft, doughy buns, pizza, fried food (especially from Mac’s in Wellfleet)…. Then there were my go-to summer excuses…. Too hot to walk outdoors. Too wet to walk outdoors. All that “vacation eating” for an entire summer and decrease in physical activity have really caught up with me. I am most centered and comfortable in my own skin when I am following a Mediterranean/MIND Diet Plan that is 80 (plant-based)/20 (fish, eggs, low-fat dairy). My last doctor’s appointment left both my doctor and I cheering. I owed that to intermittent fasting, my 80/20 approach, and morning and afternoon walking. I’ve gotta get back on track before my upcoming appointment. So here’s the reset. Back to intermittent fasting, back to 80/20, and I want to add a new dinner recipe each week for the fall. My husband and I can take turns with the cooking. In addition to stepping up my walking, pun intended, I am adding The Stretching Sidekick. It’s a 15-minute-a-day program to improve “flexibility, mobility, and range of motion.” I can track my progress right in the book. If this approach works for me, I will order The Yoga Sidekick for the winter. I still struggle with drinking enough water, planning meals instead of binge-watching my refrigerator shelves waiting for inspiration, and eating enough fiber and protein. So I borrowed Atomic Habits from my friend to see if I can find some words of wisdom about creating systems to change habits. Systems—that speaks to me. So I wrap up this area of my reset linking the latest important news on the relationship between heart and brain health. More evidence that what is good for one is good for the other. 

Reset for the Spirit and Soul (the Joy factor)

In my last blog, I talked about shifting from a nightly “thought-based” reflection to a nighttime Check-in and Reflection Journal as an adjustment to one of my retirement rituals. I used to just think about the beauty of the day, what I was grateful for, and something I looked forward to as I got into bed. Truth be told, I often fell asleep as my mind wandered off before I even got to the gratitude part. So if this new ritual continues to work, I will try to carry it through for the remaining months, and then re-evaluate how useful it is to me.

Also, in the coming weeks and months I would like to delve more deeply into meditation. I listen to meditations apps, but I know I am not truly meditating, I’m just listening. I am not getting the full benefit of the practice. This is a good time of year to make that shift. I’ll keep you posted, and if you have any recommendations for cultivating a meditation practice, please drop me a comment.

I have started a new form of planning with a brand new planner that I am loving. There is more creativity involved in it because I decide what each month, week, and day is going to look like, both in terms of tasks, reminders, and set-up, and I can change my mind if it isn’t working for me. Right now, the process of setting up my weeks with a little flair (thanks to Etsy stickers, washi tape, and tons of art markers) is bringing me lots of joy. And being more organized brings some additional peace to my days.

I am about to embark on something I am really excited about that I think will be soul and spirit nourishing and full of joy. I am going to undertake the 12 week course outlined in Julia Cameron's It's Never Too Late to Begin Again: Discovering Creativity and Meaning at Midlife and Beyond. Julia has been one of my gurus along with Natalie Goldberg since the 90's. The Artist’s Way tools of Morning Pages (already part of my retirement rituals) and Artist Dates are included each week along with a weekly memoir exercise and solitary walks (again, already part of my rituals). I have had the book for a while, but have put the undertaking off until a few other things fell into place. I am ready and looking forward to beginning this journey. I will update my progress in the blog every few weeks.

Finally, I love to decorate for fall. Adding seasonal purpose to the indoor and outdoor environment adds a meaningful setting to the flow of the days. It’s such a joy to celebrate this season of vibrant colors, warm drinks in my fall mug collection, cozy reads, mums, pumpkins, fall picnics, and evening backyard fires. It’s a way to express my creative side and bring deeper joy to the days. “Decorate for fall” is at the top of my Autumn Bucket List…yup, I started making those when I retired, just for fun. It’s nice to both make a new one and look back at the previous year’s list. 🍁

So that’s a wrap-up of the reset. I am entering the end of this first four-season-year of full retirement feeling very in charge of my own life, even during the tough times. The tools of self-inquiry, seeking wisdom from others, writing, and reflection have led to much cleansing of the mind, new insights, and self-awareness. September is my best time to get unstuck and reset my life.

It’s Time for My First Giveaway!

I am in my sixth month of blogging, folks, and I want to thank my subscribers with some products from ArtHound Gallery and Phoenix Books featuring the beautiful, whimsical illustrations of Jess Polanshek. The giveaway loot, pictured below, features The Quilted Forest notecards, a Woodland Magnet, a packet of illustrated stickers, and one large sticker — suitable for your journal or water bottle or anywhere you can think of!

To enter, you need to be a subscriber (and anyone can subscribe at any time, so invite a friend or two) and just drop this line— “I want to be entered into the Polanshek of the Hills Giveaway” — into the Comments, along with your first name and last name initial. I will choose a winner by 12:00 on Friday, September 15, and announce the winner on the blog that same day. If you are the winner, there will be directions in the post about a secure way to get your mailing address to me. If you are not the winner, please keep reading! There will be another giveaway next year that will also feature a Vermont artist/illustrator. Thank you for reading The Precious Days blog!