Fall-ing in Love

The day stretches far beyond its light and deep into the night. I'm working my way out of town, and so much seems to come up. One thing after another. Another. And another. Just when I think I've got everything done, another email comes in. I notice another task to be done. I've put off writing until I can sit and breathe and relax and open myself to the wisdom and insights that love to come. It's a trap, of course. Just as writing only when you feel inspired is. Most writing happens in spite of not feeling inspired.

It doesn't mean you're not inspired. 

Inspiration is not about feeling. It's about doing. It comes as the flow begins. You hear your fingers tapping away on the keyboard, feel the scratch of the pen across the page. Action flows together with thought, and the moment stretches.

Or not. 

Sometimes you just keep writing because that's the only way the writing can begin.

Which leads me to today and the start of a new blog series, forty days this time, through the stretch of fall from the equinox through the end of October. 

In the ancient Celtic calendar, the new year begins with a three day celebration that bridges October and November. The harvest ends and the dark time of the year begins. In the ancient world, everything begins in darkenss . . . life in the womb, transformation in the tomb, the seed in the soil, composting. 

For now, we enjoy the bounty of the harvest. Harvest on every level. As I take some time away, I will [try to] cultivate some awareness around what the year has given me so far. Where I've been and where I am. Where I'd like to be by year's end. 

I've been thinking about how I'd like to move through the season. I can become engrossed with work, sometimes even swallowed. I need separation and to return to myself. Shake off the energetic residue of these last months and take a fresh look at life. It was just a few weeks ago that the swimming pool in my community closed, too soon with more hot, sunny days on the horizon. I look around today and there's wild color on the trees and leaves blowing on the wind, a chill in the morning air. It seems like a whole different season, and it is. I've fallen right out of summer and into fall. 

I'd like to move through the season awake to the love and wonder around me. If fall (the season) could be a verb, that's how I'd like to live these next weeks . . . fall-ing as I go. I'm looking forward to the smell of wood fires and the taste of a freshly picked apple. Apple cider and cider donuts. Feeling the wind on my face and smelling the change in the air. Marveling at the color of the foliage and at pumpkins fattening on the vine. Time spent with people I love and with the love in everything. Time streching out into long moments. Joy and wonder and laughter and noticing the little and big things in life. 

So, fall-ing in love.      

Fall-ing in Love: 40 Days of Noticing is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year beings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life.

Photo: The Chalice Well, Glastonbury, England, on the fall equinox, September 22, 2025.