Fall: A Season to Inspire Change

By Alyson Winn-Lagergren

September 4th, 2026

The Season of Autumn:  The season of cooler temperatures, heading back to school, new and different schedules, changing leaves, and pumpkin spice everything. Ahh...breathe in the pumpkin spice! It’s everywhere, and I couldn’t be more excited! I personally love fall; it’s my favorite season for many reasons. First, it’s pumpkin season, and there’s so many fun fall activities that are unique to this time of year: corn mazes, pumpkin carving, cooler temperatures (sweater weather!), nice cool walks and bike rides where you’re not sweating like crazy, jumping in freshly raked leaf piles, Thanksgiving, and of course, football! I’m a huge Packers fan, so of course I’m not going to miss a game during the best season of the year!

Fall is the time where I can just absorb the natural change happening around me, and be in awe every day of how it just happens without us truly realizing it. We get so caught up in fall being the busiest season with back to school, after school activities, sports, and family and community events (it is the holiday season), but fall really is about slowing down, lingering a bit longer doing the activity you love, spending time with family, cozying up with a warm beverage, and finally doing those inside projects we didn’t get to last summer. Sewing, baking, cross-stitching, playing music, enjoying the records you have stashed away, planning a football party, all while burning a candle, having the fireplace and TV on, and enjoying a warm pumpkin spice beverage; no other season calls for all these warm, indoor, happy activities to do without the pressure of the holidays.

The season of Autumn forces us to change, inspiring us to change along with it. Yes, we have our fall traditions that we do every year with pumpkin spice everything, wearing sweaters, watching football, attending a high school football game, taking your kids to their school events, attending a fall festival, etc. But the best part of fall, for me, is the way is forces me to change my rhythm, my speed in which I do things. Summer flies by, the speed of which creates no time to fulfill those summer wish lists. But fall, even though it’s a short season, makes me stop and admire the changing leaves, how they are so different even from the day before. The little changes become huge changes within just a short amount of time, and never ceases to amaze me. This season forces and inspires me to change with it; to slow down the pace, to breathe, to enjoy the cooler temperatures, to enjoy a cup of coffee outside with my favorite fall flavorings. This season pushes us to change like no other.

Spring is another short yet very quick to change season, but brings with it the anticipation of summer and warmer temperatures, the hurry-up-and-thaw-out feeling we all feel by the end of winter. Fall is so unique in which it creates a whole new world of color, of natural change, that we should all slow down, stop, and admire.

Autumn is defined as: “The temperate season between summer and winter,” according to the dictionary. “Temperate” is defined as: “mild, moderate, or free from extremes.” I love that fall is described as such; “free from extremes”. In this season, we are “free” from the extremes of summer or winter, from the extreme temperatures, from extreme weather, and from the extreme pressure to fulfill that summer list. This season is “between” and “free”, which creates this feeling of relief, of taking a break from outer or inner pressures, creating a calm, even space to just be. Fall creates this atmosphere or bubble of color, even just for a short while, pushing us to take a break, even a short one, in order to breathe, live, feel, enjoy, and bring us back to ourselves.

We all deserve a time like this, with our busy lives, expectations, pressures, and insane schedules; to be able to take a minute and just “be,” is something hard to come by. With Autumn, it creates the perfect opportunity to just sit back and enjoy, to admire the leaves and how they change so quickly, yet take their time, to appreciate what nature does for us with harvest season, putting food on our tables, and to really feel free and at ease with the world, even if it is for just that short moment of time or season.

From watching a football game, to spending time with family, cozying up with a hot pumpkin spice latte, to cooler temperatures and enjoying outdoor activities, all of the fall events, ambience, or “aesthetics” as they say, create this warm, happy atmosphere that almost screams, “Slow down and take a break!” And I think that is why I love fall the most. Taking time to do the things I enjoy with the people I love, while also being able to enjoy the fall traditions that I have, is the best way to enjoy, or be “free from extremes” and pressures, during this amazing season of fall.

~Alyson Winn-Lagergren~