The beauty of changing seasons isn't found in the decorations we put on our shelves. It's found in the memories we carry, the traditions we create, and the hope that comes with beginning again.
A Home That Feels Like You
I love this time of year.
The scent of fall that lingers throughout the house. The dusting off of shelves, rearranging the knickknacks, and making room for the new season.
Doom-scrolling Pinterest, you'll find magazine-worthy living rooms, entryways, and kitchen counters. The beauty of it all brings that familiar feeling of, "I'm going to replicate that!"
Full stop.
Those images are meant to evoke that emotion, but the reality is that our houses should feel like homes.
They are lived in. Full of love, traditions handed down through generations, and recipes used for just as long.
Your home should be filled with your character, the things that you love, and the things that, as you walk by, make you recall a memory with your loved ones, family, and friends.
If that magazine-worthy living room brings you that feeling, then by all means, start decorating!
If it doesn't, then simply ask yourself what does.
Because that could very well be the part you've been missing, year after year, while trying to replicate an image.
At almost 53 years old, I can admit that a time or two I've tried to replicate those images, only to remove half or more of what I did because it just didn't fit me, my personality, or the charm I strive for in my home.
My home is lived in.
There are dirty dishes in the sink. There are friends and family coming and going. Sometimes I track in dirt from a full day of gardening. Pillows and blankets are often left strewn all over the couch in no particular order.
My home is clean, always, but it's lived in.
It's cozy, and I can make it feel like any season with just a few quick changes.
The Beauty of Making Room for a New Season
I'm not sure how you prepare for a new season of decorating, but I absolutely love removing some of my everyday trinkets and decor items and packing them away for a few months.
When they are brought back out, they feel like new again.
The reset is exhilarating.
Dusting off the shelves and figurines reminds me that there is a new season upon us, full of new and exciting opportunities, growth, peace, and joy.
See, this just confirms what I've been saying for a long time now.
The holiday season, the changing seasons, Christmas, any of it...
It's not in the decorations. It's in the feeling.
There is anticipation of something new. There are memories we are reminded of.
When I pack away the non-seasonal decor, I anticipate its newness, knowing it will come back out again.
When I add a pumpkin to my mantel with fall foliage, it's the anticipation that a new season is here. It's a reminder that I get to write another whole chapter of my life.
And it also brings the anticipation that Christmas, the very holiday and season that brings me the most joy, is right around the corner.
It's not the pumpkin spice. It's not the holly berries as tangible items held in our hands.
It's the feeling these things bring.
This is the most important part because it's the part that often brings hope, peace, joy, and that wonderful feeling of excitement and contentment.
When the Holidays Don't Feel Quite the Same
I recognize that some may dread the changing seasons or the holidays.
There was a time I did, if I'm being honest.
Not so long ago, we buried both my husband's father and stepfather, one week apart from each other.
Our Thanksgiving was spent room-hopping on the floor of the ICU, and everything from then on became a blur.
Two funerals. Two losses. Two people to mourn who were an intricate part of our family.
Empty chairs sat where they would sit.
Laughter turned into tears.
Holiday traditions were lost in the flood of tears and heartache.
The feeling that family and holidays would never be the same.
You're allowed to feel those moments, and you should.
Whether you dread the holidays because of a loss, because of finances, or because life has just seemingly kicked your ass, I want you to remember that decorating for the holidays or the seasons isn't about the items you put on the shelves.
It's not about expensive gifts or keeping up with trends.
It's certainly not about keeping up with the Joneses.
And more importantly, it is not about replicating an image or a ten-second reel.
It's about home, traditions both old and new, anticipation, and coziness.
It doesn't need to be expensive or extravagant.
The Traditions, the Memories, and the Little Things That Matter
Let the dogs throw the pillows off the couch.
Put the old chapel with a chip in the corner out on display.
But most of all, remember that change is good.
It's empowering.
It's an opportunity to inhale a new feeling and exhale what doesn't serve you.
It's about stringing popcorn garland and baking homemade cookies that were supposed to be bells but now look like the Grinch.
It's about lighting the fall-scented candle that reminds you of Nana's house, turning on the twinkling lights, and remembering that you're never too old to search the skies on Christmas Eve.
It's about hand-painting ornaments or giving handwritten cards as gifts because they have meaning, not hundreds of dollars' worth of stuff that someone probably won't use anyway.
It's about dusting off a shelf to make room for the new or the old, not redecorating an entire space.
It's about remembering those who were once there, knowing they are now watching over you from above.
It's about missing them but carrying on what you know they would want you to.
It's about love and family, not the newest trend.
Inhale the New. Exhale the Old.
So, as you prepare for this holiday season and begin your trek to the attic or the shed, with every item you dust, unpack, or put on display, I want you to remember to inhale the new and exhale the old.
Visualize the difficult things leaving you and your home and inhale the brand-new season that could absolutely change your life.
If there is one thing that I know, it is that God is a God of suddenly.
Everything is temporary, and you truly are meant for so much more than you think you are.
At any given moment, your life can change.
If you're worried about the future, you're not living for today.
No one knows what the future will hold, but I know that today I'm alive, I am well, I am grateful, and I am blessed.
This is how you make room for God to do sudden things.
This is how you make room for the miracle that may occur today at 3 o'clock.
