August.

Embracing Your Natural New Year.

August–a transition month from summer to fall. We’re savoring the last bits of summer and also preparing for the fall shenanigans. It goes by so extremely fast, those last few months of the year. We’re hit with the hustle and bustle of back to school & new routines and then we’re slammed right into the holidays which goes by in the blink of an eye.

As a Taurus, taking the time to savor everything—from food to seasonal life vibes—is of utmost importance and I truly feel that in order to do so, planning & prepping must be in order; which brings me back to August. I’m not in full fall mode and I’m not rushing for summer to be over but I do have fall in my mind on the horizon. I’m gathering a couple fall candles, I’m thinking about what we’re going to be for Halloween, and I’m finalizing school schedules & supplies & uniforms. But I’m also going to the pool often, I’m spraying myself with summery scents, and I’m cooking summer meals.

Living in Florida where we don’t have all 4 seasons…

In order to savor each season I have to rely on things like scents, foods, activities, and decor to help me truly embody the vibe of the season—and it’s something I do really well because it’s always been really important to me. I’m super nostalgic and memory keeping is one of my favorite activities. I love reliving some of the same vibes of the season as last year—scents, food, activities, and decor.

Society’s New Year

August is the transition month from one of my favorite seasons—summer—to my other favorite—fall. In a lot of ways, August feels like the end of the year and the beginning of a new. I realized recently that I operate well on an academic calendar. Basically, my whole life I’ve been conditioned to live this way and since I have kids, my life still operates this way—and I’m happy to have finally realized it so I can work with it.

December / January is the traditional “new year” where everyone is making goals and getting new planners and it’s all about a fresh start. But really, is it a great time for goal-setting? For me as an accountant it’s definitely not—tax season leaves no time for me to daydream and brainstorm and make vision boards—it’s my busiest time of year! 

So then I thought ok well maybe my birthday in May could be my ‘new year’ where I set intentions for my next year, but that doesn’t work so well either because I’m wrapping up tax season, regrouping, and catching my breath and just when I catch it, we go straight into end of the school year shenanigans–2 kids at 2 different schools with 2 different ‘crazy sock days’ and award ceremonies and end of year picnics—all the things = chaos. After that comes June and July where I fully embrace the slow, chill vibes—no alarm clocks means I’m waking up at least 1-2 hours later and staying up later and there’s freedom and vacations and slowness and fun. Goals are not really on my mind during late Spring/early Summer.

Your Natural New Year

But now, in August, the hustle and bustle of back to school naturally makes me actually want to be productive—also, I mean, we shift into Virgo season which just enhances this. I want to make lists and I want to plan all the things (I normally always want to plan all the things regardless of the month–my planner has its own IG after all–but it’s like next level in August). 

I feel like I want to create intentions and goals and then create new routines and habits to be able to achieve those goals and embody those intentions. August feels like my December and my January—it’s my new year and that feels really good. I think discovering your natural new year is life changing and I’d encourage you to take a birds eye view of your lifestyle, routines, and timelines (and even your astrology) to see what time of the year is best for you for goal setting rather than just going with society’s ‘new year’.

August. And the rest of the year…

It’s this planning and preparing in August that allows for a Fall & holiday season that I really savor and enjoy vs flying through it and then in January wondering where it all went! I fully believe that some good, solid intention setting & routine-creating brainstorming sessions in August will set you up for an amazing Fall & holiday season. If you don’t already do memory keeping, I highly suggest discovering an easy way to do it because it will help you to be intentional and savor the rest of the year instead of just letting it fly by. 

One of my favorite things to do every month is create a mood board that showcases the aesthetic that I want to embody and then at the end of the month, I take my favorite memories and create a collage as a memory board for that month. I also do a bunch of other things that I’ll save for another post, but these simple collages are such a fun and easy way to actually know where the year went and to also be intentional about what you want to do, achieve, and embody for the next month or season or year. <3 Tip: Using a filter or photo-editing after all the photos are in the collage can make the images look cohesive and aesthetically pleasing—I’m big on aesthetics, Venus does rule my life after all as a Taurus Sun.

The Transition

So, while there are those that can’t wait for summer to end and there are those who are already grabbing their PSLs and lighting candles for Fall, I feel like I’m in limbo land, somewhere in between. I’m starting to sneak some Fall things in here and there—mostly in the form of gathering my fall supplies and planning some early fall festivities—like getting my first PSL! But I’m also still having pizza by the pool and planning an end of summer pool party. 

Savoring Life

The best things I ever did to ensure that I intentionally savor every moment of this beautiful crazy life is 1. finding my natural new year and 2. discovering a way to use memory keeping for enhancing nostalgia. I encourage you to try these out! <3