September is a month with budding potential. I love the transition from the slow summer days into the routine, higher pace of fall.
But to be honest, I always need a boost from the warm slow days into the quicker cool ones. I mean September is a sugarshow…to say it sweetly. Like, can I keep up with this marathon or will I fold before the race even starts? No one knows. And so, I’ve decided to set up systems to feel like I’m on top of my game in all things life.
Waking up between the hours of 5 and 6 am every day. A friend of mine recently shared her ‘sanity schedule’ and she starts her day at 5 am. It felt like a stretch for me since I typically am a 7 am or later riser. But funny enough, the next morning I randomly woke about at 5 am and thought, what the heck, I’ll give it a go. And it was amazing. I had an hour of quiet time with tea, read essays while the sun light started to spread across the fields, went for a run and had breakfast prepped, beds made, dishwasher loaded, and laundry turned all before 9 am. It started my day off so positively I was immediately hooked. Since then, I’ve woke up between 5 and 6 am every morning, minus a couple nights when the boys were sick. Of course, I was exhausted on the other end of the day and was sleeping by 9:30/10 pm. Dr. Huberman of The Huberman Lab would be so proud. He advocates the benefits of going outside and viewing sunlight within the first hours of waking, which increases early-day cortisol release and prepares the body for sleep later that night (Huberman, 2023).
Staying off social. I started this experiment back in late March and somehow, I’ve kept it going. What began as an intended couple week break from Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram turned into a six-month hiatus. I’ve since been evaluating my experience with these apps and whether they add value to my life and relationships. And so far, I haven’t had any relationships suffer from my absence (that I’m aware of anyway). And any inspirational accounts I followed I have been able to find similar inspiration elsewhere that is not vying for my attention and trying to sell me something on the daily. I find that I’d rather connect in person or over the phone with the people who matter most to me. Watching their weekend highlight reels from afar felt like a false sense of connection and planted seeds of comparison over inspiration most of the time. In my opinion, you won’t find the truth on social media. The technology wasn’t designed for that. It was designed to illustrate small pieces of our lives that create a hyper-reality (as McLuhan enthusiast, Baudrillard would call it) based on getting likes and comments, to sell a story of life or product that you think your followers and community will enjoy (Baudrillard, 2017). The signs, symbols and representation on the platform become more about sensationalism. We begin to have less ability to distinguish between what is real or spectacle and maybe we don’t care because spectacle is amusing. Sensation ends up trumping reality, so we end up seeing this constant larger than life depiction of an otherwise simple livelihood. But hey, maybe that’s art, so if you feel it still adds value to your life, you do you.
Holding off on organized activities for my kids. I’ll admit I am eagerly anticipating the day I get to watch my kids participate and perform in all things organized (i.e., sports, art, music, etc.). I am on board with the importance of kids being a part of the above-mentioned activities. But I also don’t anticipate my boys to be elite athletes – not saying they couldn’t be but I’m saying they don’t need to be. I want them to gain life skills, confidence, and character above being superstars. I want them at a young age to learn through play and have fun in a non-pressure environment. So, while I know my 4-year-old could be playing hockey I’m going to hold off on the struggle of getting him on the ice every week. Instead, I’ll schedule some weekly meet ups with friends and their little ones during public skating hours. Our kids get time on the ice or have the option to run around the rink while we get adult time. Win win.
I hope you’re still in bright spirits this September. I know it’s a lot. But hey, you can handle it. And if not, add a few more things to your ‘not doing’ list. Tell them I told you to.
Baudrillard, J. (2017) Simulacra and Simulation. (S.F. Glaser, Trans.). University of Michigan Press.
Huberman, A. (2023) Using Light for Health (Neural Network Newsletter) https://www.hubermanlab.com/newsletter/using-light-for-health
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