Fall is this beautiful time that we really only get for about a month every year. The trees are these warm colors, and the leaves crunch under your feet as you walk anywhere. All the fantastic foods become ripe, in season, and cheap. It’s perfect sweater weather, and if we’re as lucky as we are this year, we get to keep the winter coats and snow boots in the closet for an extra hot minute.
So why do we only hear things like “Calgary got snow, and we’re next,” “ugh it was -2 this morning” and “ew it’s raining”? Why can’t we focus on the fact that the day after Calgary got snow, I saw someone flying a kite on campus with their baby, significant other, and dog on a blanket beside them? Why can’t we appreciate the fact that you can still get away with only having a hoodie on and not freeze to death? Yes, it may be -2 in the morning, but it also is +8 in the afternoons!
We have so many positive things around us and even more beautiful nature pictures to take if we would just look up when we walk. My favorite part about walking home right now is the fact that the trees all still have their yellow leaves on. It makes it so easy to enjoy walking to and from campus.
My therapist always talks about an exercise that I think is important for everyone to do once in a while. When you’re looking at something that you find beauty in, take an extra second to take it in. Look at the yellow trees hanging over the street and let your mind absorb all the happiness that a site can give you. Really appreciate the colors you’re seeing and make the image get burned into your memory. Don’t just take a photo and walk away. Stare at the sight. Really stare at the gorgeous area in front of you, and let your mind really expand and absorb all the colors. Let yourself be happy for an extra second when you see something worth being happy about.
With midterms in full swing, each of us needs to take that extra second each day to appreciate something that positively affects us. Let that be autumn and the picturesque sites it brings us.