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A guest post to motivate, encourage, and inspire…

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Chasing My Autumns

“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.”  – George Eliot

I’ve always loved fall. Since I was young, I’ve eagerly awaited the cool transition from summer sun and lush green grass to grey skies and crunchy earth. The season always brought feelings of nostalgia for a time I couldn’t even remember.

Before the internet revealed entire subcultures dedicated to the celebration of fall, I always thought I was unique in this way. I loved everything about it—the scratchy sweaters, the school supplies, the dark evenings, the promise of new opportunity.

Of course, the start of fall was always inextricably tied to the start of a new school year, and I loved that too.

I especially liked classes that required students to keep a journal. I would fill the pages, journaling much more than the required minimum. It was like I was the only player in a competition with no prize, but I didn’t care.

For me, writing was always the consolation.

I eventually went on to college and law school, every year finding comfort in the cool embrace of a new fall and a new school year. I would think to myself how I would love a career on campus, forever finding a new autumn each year with fresh young minds, an endless sea of opportunity and new beginnings.

Eventually I graduated and after a sweltering summer studying for the bar exam, and a wandering fall awaiting my results, I was admitted to the New York Bar and began my legal career.

The following year I became a mother.

When my son was ten months old, we bought our first home and again began a new journey, this time as homeowners. The interesting thing about starting life as a lawyer, and a mother, and a homeowner, was that though each unveiled a new world of possibilities, they each signified an end to the life that came before.

Of course, these milestones were exciting, but there were still parts of myself that I didn’t want to lose. I wanted to keep chasing my autumns as it were.

And so, it was around this time that I began writing again, this time as a freelance writer.

I wrote mainly about the joys and challenges of being a mom, dispensing from the well of knowledge I had filled during my first year of motherhood. Though adding freelance work to my life could have been seen as a burden, I found myself drawing inspiration from every new submission, each the dawn of an autumn I would not otherwise enjoy.

The beautiful thing about writing is that you can forever draw inspiration from the world around you, and in turn, you can continuously inspire yourself.

And that’s why I write—so that I will never lose myself.