Begin again

fresh starts

Happy September!

It’s a new month. Although Labor Day weekend is neither the official nor the meteorological end of summer (actually it is - see update in the comments), it traditionally indicates the beginnings of fall.

Many children and college students are already back in school. Others start after the holiday weekend. Since I was active in K-12 education for over 20 years and now work in higher education, I personally resonate a lot with the “school calendar” or “academic year” vibe.

Regardless of the particular beginning we reference, a specific calendar date or time period can give us a feeling of new energy. It's the “fresh start” effect we feel, whether for a new year, a milestone birthday, a calendar season, or another significant date. Any or all of these can invoke the feeling of turning a page or beginning again. You can google “fresh start” for articles and studies about the concept. Here’s a quote from one such study:

We present causal evidence that emphasizing a temporal landmark denoting the beginning of a new time period increases people’s intentions to initiate goal pursuit. In addition, we propose and show that people’s strengthened motivation to begin pursuing their aspirations following such temporal landmarks originates in part from the psychological disassociation these landmarks induce from a person’s past, imperfect self.

~ Hengchen Dai, Katherine L. Milkman, Jason Riis

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New month, new me.

Of course it’s not quite that simple. Personally, however, I’ve found a boost to starting new habits or goals in conjunction with some sort of “temporal landmark.” I’ve written about that before, for example in these posts:

Spring/forward

Year end musings

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Some new goals that I’m incorporating into this “fresh start” time of year are eating healthier and spending less time on my phone. I already started focusing on my eating habits a couple of weeks ago by making some detailed changes. (It turns out you cannot still get away with eating a whole bag of chips when you’re in your 50s, by the way.) I’m still thinking about specific ways to limit time on my phone.

How about you? Are you feeling inclined to do something differently or pursue a new goal or habit as we turn from summer into fall? Please feel free to share in the comments if you’d like.

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Lastly, I’m sharing below some of the books I’ve been reading. I used to publish “book notes” on my old blog and miss doing that. I thought I’d incorporate reading notes here occasionally. Please feel free to share what you’ve been reading too!

With care and gratitude,

Mary

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If you missed last week’s post, please check it out:

The path forward

What I’ve been reading…

A recent favorite is Birding to Change the World: A Memoir by Trish O’Kane. I loved this story. O’Kane’s experiences from Central America to New Orleans to Madison, WI are fascinating. I was inspired by the activism she and her neighbors engaged in to save the wild places in Warner Park in Madison.

Our book club just read All the Little Bird-Hearts By Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow. This was a beautiful read for me, and it was longlisted for the Booker Prize 2023. Lloyd-Barlow describes herself as an autistic author. Sunday, the main character of the novel, is also autistic. I appreciated the lyrical writing and the insight into a neurodivergent mind.

Our family book club is reading The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. Although I’m only a few chapters in, I’m already intrigued by the story and the characters.

I’ve been enjoying the audiobook The Late Bloomer: Myths and Stories of the Wise Woman Archetype by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés. The only problem is that I’m usually listening on my commute and can’t copy down the nuggets of wisdom I’m hearing!

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