are you honoring your natural rhythms?
a new season invites us to reflect & reset 🍂☕️
Wednesday Wisdom
“I’m more careful about my health, but I’m also more careful about my happiness. Compared with 20 years ago, I am twice as strong...I meditate twice a day. I teach full-time. I write full-time. I read like a maniac. And I fall in love easily.” ~ June Jordan
Morning Musings
Recently someone asked me to describe my brand and I said, it’s like a cozy coffee with your best friend who doubles as your hype woman and is obsessed with Beyoncé . It’s deep purple, burnt orange, mustard yellow. It’s fall. My brand is fall.
If you ask me, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. Fall is really when I thrive and it’s not just because I was born two days before Halloween (Scorpio gang, rise up!). I love summer through and through, especially after moving to the Midwest, where we get approximately six weeks of it. And autumn is even shorter with a good two weeks or so before the first frost settles (don’t believe me? it snowed on my BIRTHDAY my first year in Chicago. This Maryland girl was ready to go back!), so I have to enjoy it while I can.
At church the other day, one of the pastors asked what’s on your fall bucket list and mine has remained the same for the last few years:
Apple picking at County Line Orchard (pro tip: get two of their delicious homemade apple pies, trust me on this!)
Lincoln Square’s Apple Fest (though its essentially quadrupled in popularity since I first started going with my former roomie Marissa back in 2013…we reveled in pointing out all the families with strollers, babies and dogs and now I’m the one with the stroller and a toddler. Life comes at you fast!)
Fall Fest at Lincoln Park Zoo (throughout the years, this has included Adults Night Out Howl-o-ween and, most recently, SpookyZoo for trick-or-treating with said toddler).
Additionally, I have to try the pumpkin spice latte or any fall-flavored beverage at every coffee shop I go to and buy ALL the pumpkin-scented candles. At last count, I have about five. No, I don’t have a problem.
Fall is my favorite. There’s just something about the chill in the air, a warm drink in your hands, a chunky sweater on your shoulders and vibrant leaves crunching underneath your boots.
Fall also invites us to slow down, to prepare for winter. To take our time. It’s an opportunity to reflect and reset. And I don’t know about you, but I’m already thinking ahead to 2025. Once October hits, it’s pretty much a wrap. If it’s not already on my calendar, it automatically becomes a 2021 problem. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.
Recently, I listened to the replay of my business coach
’ workshop on systems. Ever the creative, I’m not exactly the best about being organized. My Notes app is chaotic, at best, but it makes sense to me. I’ve tried—and failed—to use Asana for my personal business many times. And don’t even get me started on Trello and Evernote, etc.When I returned to full-time freelancing last September, I told myself this time was going to be different. This time I would be organized. This time I would have systems.
But what Jenni’s workshop gave me permission to do is say f*ck systems, embrace rhythms. To do that, she encouraged us to write things that are working for us in our business and then things that aren’t working for us.
Things that work for me:
Starting the day with movement & mindfulness (and water!!)
Mindfulness activities (meditation, journaling, yoga)
Taking in-person yoga classes (2-3x/week)
Google calendar
Using a paper planner to map out calendar/goals for the week
Using the Notes app for running ideas
Using a notebook for day-to-day to-do lists
Working from a coffee shop/library at least once a week
Premade meals/lunch from Trader Joe’s/snacks ready to go in the fridge
No meetings on Mondays or Fridays
Lofi hip-hop playing in the background
Writing on the sofa & lighting a candle
Things that don’t work for me:
Taking meetings/starting work before 10 am
Trying to be creative after 3pm
Meetings after 4pm
Working after 10pm
Asana
Back-to-back/wall of (Zoom) meetings (needs at least 15-minute break in between)
Checking multiple inboxes
Back-to-back deadlines
Our homework? Do more of the things that are working for us, even if they don’t look like the traditional systems we’ve all been told we need to run thriving businesses. Last week, I put what I wrote down into practice.
After daycare dropoff, I did our weekly grocery shopping. When I got home, I made myself a nice protein-packed breakfast and then settled in for some journaling, stretching and devotional reading. My mornings require mindfulness and movement in order for me to feel my best. Lately, I’ve been skipping over that and jumping straight into work, which only led to me being more tired and irritable and definitely less productive.
So I’ve decided to start honoring my rhythms again, especially as we head settle in to my favorite season. I invite you to do the same exercise of determining what works for you and what doesn’t work for you—whether that be at work, in your everyday life or home. And, if you’re feeling brave (and/or would like some accountability), share your list in the comments. 🫶🏾
ICYMI 👀
This week I made my writing debut in two publications I’ve been reading for a looong time! First up is my contribution to The Cut’s How I Got This Baby series. In this story, I talked to a mom who had an ectopic pregnancy and then went on to foster two children. There’s a lot of love and learning in this one.
Up next, I (along with some other brilliant writers, including
) contributed to this story in Romper about how to foster independence in kids. You may recall I asked y’all to share your stories a while back, so check to see if your anecdote made the cut (pun intended).What I’m Reading 👩🏾💻
Natasha Rothwell is Flipping the Script on Romantic Comedies (The Washington Post)
The Return of Ta-Nehisi Coates (New York Magazine)
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The straightup goosebumps your mention of Asana gave me 😂
Pumpkin anywhere near my latte, cappuccino or cold brew is a hard no. :)