Fall Refined Reflections

You Can Plan a Pretty Picnic, but You Can’t Predict the Weather

Life has a way of reminding us that even the best intentions don’t always unfold as planned. I had every intention to stay consistent with my fall refined reflection’s September check-in. I wanted to keep showing up, sharing my journey, and documenting the lessons along the way. But as August turned into September, I found myself quietly slowing down in ways I didn’t fully understand – until I did.

For the past 11 years, September has been a bittersweet month for me. It kicks off with three meaningful new chapter birthday celebrations while holding space to wrap up one meaningful last chapter.  The beginning of fall holds the memory of a great personal loss and even now, years later, when September rolls around, my spirit tends to get heavy before my mind can catch up. What I once thought was “just a busy season” is really a kind of emotional pause, a moment where grief still whispers and my creative energy momentarily stalls. We don’t always recognize it while it’s happening, I did because I felt stuck.

I Tried to Find My Rhythm

I tried to find my rhythm again in October, and truly believed I would catch up. And then, life weeks started moving faster than I realized. Suddenly, I looked up and it was November 30th… today, the last day of the fall season as we know it. Three months gone with the wind, just like that, was it depression or suppression. For me it was suppression but for you it could be depression, know the difference and seek help.

The stagnation wasn’t caused due to not having anything to say. But because, sometimes healing, processing, and simply being human takes precedence over productivity. And if I am being honest with you and myself, this realization is part of the work too.

My blogs have never been about perfection or manufactured consistency, they’re about real life, evolving life, my life, the seasons of showing up strong and the seasons of pulling back to breathe. A reminder that forward movement doesn’t always look visible or is heard loudly. Sometimes it looks like sitting with feelings you thought were already resolved. Sometimes it looks like rest. Sometimes it looks like silence. Sometimes it looks like straying from the routine. Sometimes it looks like just not giving AF and sometimes it looks like you.

The Month of December

December has always felt like a mirrored doorway for me. A natural point of reflection, restoration, and quiet renewal. It’s a month that invites us to slow down, take stock of what survived us this year, not what we survived and begin dreaming about what’s next. Oh yeah, you still have time to not only dream about what’s next for you but to write it down. What are you waiting for… The time is now – today.

Closing out 2025, should be a reminder that growth is not linear, (hence this late blog checkin) timelines are not promises, they’re intentions. “You can plan a pretty picnic all day long, but you cannot predict the weather.” The lyric hit differently when understanding that sometimes the weather isn’t meant to be fought, because it’s meant to be felt. This is often missed.

With that said, moving into this final month of year 2025, my intention isn’t to “make up for lost time.” it’s to remain present. To honor my emotional seasons as much as I honor my goals. And to continue writing from a place of truth even when the truth includes pauses, pivots, and rest.

If you’ve had your own moments this year where life slowed you down unexpectedly, just know you’re not behind, nope. You’re exactly where you are meant to be, believe it. Here’s to closing the year with compassion for ourselves and for the journey. We are stepping into the new year with clarity, peace, and renewed purpose.

This journey called life, really is a Refined Lifestyle.