Summer is Collapsing & It’s Beautiful as it Falls

I got caught in a downpour outside yesterday when it descended, and we needed it badly! A “fall” is typically metaphorical for disasters, empires, and bitter endings. But the rain belongs, and falls can yield goodness (think of surrender, love, opportunities and pretenses). If you live in a place where summers surrender to fall in colorfully dramatic fashion, then you know. Everything in nature transforms. All of the creatures seem well aware, begin preparations, and become busy. Autumn will begin to awaken your soul, and if you allow it, teach you all you need to know. This collection of Nature-inspired autumnal moments captures some of the magic. Will I have time this fall to snap photos of changing leaves, of pumpkin patches and foxes in the yard? Oh, I hope so. Even if time is limited, I hope we will find creative ways to be in the throes of THE FALL as we savor the season.

Lovely Fall Feels, Everyday Magic & Finds

A bit random and loose, I’m just letting these images (from inspiring creatives and my own home sweet home) speak to the beauty of change outside and inside.

Psst. If you feel that all of the seasons and holidays are rushed on social media, you’re right. It’s a very intentional marketing thing. Creators post because marketers pressure all of us to stay ahead. I guess the whole enterprise falls apart if the public waits to shop for candy corn until the day before Halloween. But for corn’s sake, wouldn’t everyone remember without the skeletons dangling from store shelves? And you probably know this, but the country’s economy depends on the willingness of consumers to be excessive about Halloween and Christmas. Spending on these holidays fuels the country and feeds hungry corporations (and the growling tummies of small businesses too).

It’s as if there can be no patience in corporate culture…so very different from nature.

But this won’t be a lengthy rant about systems in which we’re all entangled. I would rather contemplate our entanglement with BEAUTY.

Ya know?

Beauty arising from the earth and from secret places in the heart.

Beauty flowing in your backyard, from the mouths of children, from the eyes of an aging pet.

Beauty blooming in friendship when it’s the real thing.

There’s a question that is never too far from my mind.

Can beauty save the world? The answer is always a whisper from the depths, oh yes…

But how?

I don’t know. As I age, my hunch is it all begins with an inside job. With a commitment first to an interior landscape of beauty. Nurturing that landscape involves: excavation, seeds of hope, courage to allow the old to pass away, pruning to create room for new growth, and surrender: to seasons sunshine and rain.

There’s a reliance–a sweet reliance–on grace in a quest for beauty. We align with the Divine Mystery and become the beauty and healing we seek. No longer alone on the journey, we have a partner in the Conspiracy of Beauty. The universe around us transforms. Systems rearrange and relationships are repaired. Divisions shrink and purpose arises. Collaboration and cooperation become meaningful movements that invite more beauty to take root, to bloom.

Are you waiting for circumstances, systems, leadership, and boundaries to change? Me too. So I start at the mirror (as opposed to starting with a screen on the wall, my desk, or in my hands). I often ask two questions. Who are you, and where are you? More often than not, answers arrive and move me into the sacredness of the everyday. Beauty too often passed by. Dappled light and the taste of a freshly plucked apple. A kitten’s purr and my beloved’s laughter.

It’s all so sacred. Do you love the light in fall? There’s a golden quality that resonates with something deep in my soul. Makes everything feel more majestic. And cozy like this storybook cottage in Tennessee where we stayed a few years ago.

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Adding Layers in Autumn

So many simple textural details to admire and learn from in this French interior by Lucinda Chambers. It has that in between summer and autumn look with neutrals. I want to curl up on the sofa under a throw but also feel the warm sunlight on my face.

Copper’s Glow in a Provence Kitchen

I love noticing how cool, summery spaces manage to still feel cozy and welcoming in the fall. Natural elements, whether it’s a collection of copper or a branch from the yard, are timeless touches that do the trick. You must simply discover what natural elements speak to you personally.

French blues harmonize with copper so magnificently…what a collection (from E. Dehllerin in Paris) at Le Mas des Poiriers! Just a reminder that we need not always go dark and moody to evoke a particular mood. The options are endless.

Country Cottage Charm in France

I would love to add window boxes here eventually to soften the front facade of our home and improve curb appeal. There is something utterly friendly and welcoming when a house is wearing flowers.

Sometimes a harvest dinner can be as simple as seasonal vegetables, fruit, cheese and cured meats on a board.

Oh–and a baguette! Did you know I still bake them weekly with my sourdough starter? I share them and am waiting for one of my sons to be inspired enough to take over the weekly tradition.

Serene Fall Beauty in a French Chateau Sill

These colors and the quality of the light here just take my breath away.

And the cremone bolt on the window! Oh, fairy hardware vendors of my dreams…how how how can I entice you to sprinkle them on every hungry for beauty window here!?! (Will you accept homemade sourdough baguettes as payment?)

South of France View

Copper Pots & Pears

I can smell the lavender right through the screen!

French Cat in a Window Box

Would your cat also lounge here?

My Home Last Year in Early Fall

I remember taking video of our prior home two falls ago as if it were last week! Where does the time go? In our case, it seems to pass by DIY project by DIY project.

Rustic Cozy in France

I have added several similar mirrors to my life since glimpsing this one:

Does this color pairing inspire you as it does me? Why should orange and crimson hoard all the love in fall?

French Climbing Vines

I’ll never forget being in Paris in October and being awestruck at ivy covered Old World buildings. There were so many moments when my husband wanted to keep walking, and I wanted to stay and stare for long stretches. So I don’t even have too many photos of the beauty to show for it so lost was I in moments of bliss. I am one who seems to be all work or all play. And in Paris? Goodness gracious, I just wanted to play.

Fallen Leaves at Petit Trianon

Pears and Brown Paper

Colorful Autumn Leaves in Doremy, France

What a transcendent photo by Cassie Berube on a visit to Joan of Arc’s birthplace! How I would love to go on one of her splendid retreats for women!

Understated Color in Provence

Oh this image! First of all, maybe it will inspire you to search forgotten boxes in the attic for mismatched china for a wall. And that lantern sconce with the art below. I feel as though I need such a moment in my home too. Finally, a bobbin leg console used as a buffet…isn’t the narrow scale of it divine?

The warmth of wood, plates hung simply on the wall, French fabrics, and gentle blue…it all speaks to my soul and feels welcoming across any season.

Cozy Comfy Finds for Fall

The Scent I Wear in Fall

Thinking of each of you and so grateful if you made it to the end of a rambling random post. Thank you for journeying with me as we are inspired to dream, create, connect and grow. I don’t want to rush you into autumn. Rather, I hope to stir you to get quieter and notice from a place of stillness how beauty is unfolding despite summer’s collapse.

I independently selected products in this post—if you buy from one of my links, I may earn a commission.

Peace to you right where you are.

-michele

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