Growing up in Texas, I didn’t understand the hype about the four seasons until I went to college in the Midwest. I love the warmth so winters there were terrible. Beyond that, a Midwest September and Texas December are more or less the same so it was cold for a good chunk of the year. Despite this, I did love the beauty of the autumn leaves and the rebirth of the spring. After learning about a fall affirmation activity from Alex Elle’s newsletter last week, I think I might have fallen hard for fall.
Basically, you write down something you’re releasing on a fallen leaf and then you release it into the world. You can do so in a way that it might be stumbled upon or discard of the leaf privately. I’ve left some leaves in a nearby Little Library and crumpled others. I’m not bold enough to stick one under anyone’s windshield wiper or in a random mailbox, but if you are #goaheadboo.
Personally, everything about this is so freaking cathartic that I can’t help but stan. I love that this activity uses something that already exists in the natural world. I’ve also been trying to lean into my inner child these days and to me, this activity is peak inner child. It’s seeing beauty and utility in things seen as discarded. While leaves that have changed color are seen as pretty, once they hit the ground, they’re usually regarded as a nuisance. But children recognize leaves as opportunities for happiness and play when they jump into piles of them.
When I go outside staring at a cluster of fallen leaves, I creatively consider the suitability of a particular leaf for an artistic and healing endeavor. There’s something about being odd – an adult (but tbh everyone thinks I’m 16) in her bonnet squatting with a camera over piles of leaves and holding wet ones in her hand – that is very fun and freeing. But I do wish I’d done some of this a little further from my regular activity space lol.
I hope that you give this activity a try and in case you do, here are a few tips:
- If you’re going to throw your leaves into the wind, be sure not to do this in front of your home. If you don’t mind your neighbors or members of your household potentially happening across them, then go right on ahead .
- If the leaves have already started to crunch or lose their color, they’re past their prime and might crumble when you try to write on them. Also they’re less cute.
- Use permanent marker to write because it stands out more clearly than pen.
- You don’t have to do this only once, do it a gazillion times.
Wishing you a joyous fall,
-L
Directionless Without My GPS 