I notice that autumn is more the season of the soul than of nature.
~ Friedrich Nietzsche ~
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Have you ever pondered just how amazing our five senses are? The ability to experience something through taste, sight, touch, sound, and scent. The ability to experience something fully. To experience something's fullness. This is a completely awesome gift that we have everyday and we don't even realize it most of the time.
Autumn is a season filled with so much to experience. And our senses allow us to experience this glorious season in all its beautiful fullness.
Autumn's Tastes
Autumnal tastes are warming and comforting, to put it in the simplest words. Soups and stews simmering all day long filled with fresh veggies and seasonings that bring a delicious flavor. Pot pies and breads of all sorts...sweet and savoury, family favorite recipes that we only make when the weather turns cold. All of these are part of experiencing autumn through taste. Seasonal spices make desserts and treats and breads stand out as extra special and extraordinary. Pumpkin pie, or apple pie, is often a featured dessert in the center of tables this time of year, especially with Thanksgiving celebrations. Hot drinks, at least for me, are most enjoyed when the temperatures drop. Herbal teas with fruity or spicy flavors, hot chocolate made with vanilla almond milk, vanilla lattes or spiced cider. These all just speak autumn to me. Their taste is distinctly autumnal to me, and even when I do have a mug of something warm in July, I am transported to an October or November eve for those moments whilst I grasp that warm mug in my hands and sip the comforting liquid that it holds.
Experience autumn's tastes...
Compile a recipe notebook of seasonal recipes that speak autumn to you. Collect family favorites and new recipes to try this season. Make seasonal desserts or treats to enjoy randomly through the autumn months featuring spices or other ingredients that are full of fall flavor. Keep ingredients on hand for soups that you love and perhaps start a weekly tradition of homemade soup and bread...we love our Sunday tradition. Create a cozy drink corner filled with pretty mugs and seasonal drinks to enjoy in the mornings or evenings...or anytime, really. Hot chocolate mixes, spiced cider, things to prepare your favorite cup of coffee and a variety of teas are what you'll find in our drink corner.
Autumn's Scents
This time of year is bursting with all sorts of happy smells. In our house, the scents of cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, ginger and allspice are often wafting in the air as seasonal breads are baking and coming out of the oven. The scent of soups or stews simmering on the stove and the scent of freshly baked bread fill the air on Sunday evenings around here. And sometimes it's the spicy scent of chili. And that's just the food part of autumn.
The air smells distinctly different this time of year than at any other. Summer's air has a scent that is filled with humidity and a sort of stink from the heat, if I'm honest. But autumn's air smells fresh and clean and new again. It is literally a breath of fresh air when you step outside. Oftentimes, the scent of firewood fills the air, especially as the nights get colder. And the way the earth smells after an autumn rainfall is blissful.
Candles and essential oils also fill the air with autumnal scents. We love using warm, spicy scents in our diffuser as well as with the candles we light this time of year. My mom often has a stovetop potpourri simmering all day long when the weather turns cool. Cinnamon sticks, vanilla extract, orange slices and water make for a magical potion of coziness and warmth on a cold autumn day and night. Our house smells delightful all season long with these various scents...whether from baking, cooking, candles, oils diffusing...or even when we step outside and enjoy a campfire or simply breathe in the scents of the earth in all her autumn glory.
Experience autumn's scents...
Gather essential oils and/or candles that have autumnal scents and make it a point to diffuse or light them each evening whilst you are settling in...and during dinnertime. Walk outside and breath in and notice the scents of autumn. Pay attention to the air at different times of day, it smells different in the early part of the day compared to nighttime after dark. Notice how the scent of the air changes as it gets colder. Fill your kitchen with cozy scents with the foods you prepare. And maybe pop a pan on the stove filled with a few simple ingredients to make a stovetop potpourri to enjoy all day long.
Autumn's Touch
When I think of touch in relation to autumn, I think of all kinds of cozy textures. The warmth of a comforter after crawling in bed at night. The softness of a sweatshirt on my skin on a cold day. The way a handknit scarf feels on my neck. The thickness of socks on my feet as I slip on my boots. The way flannel sheets feel so warm on chilly nights and worn pajamas feel so familiar and comforting. In my opinion, autumn should feel comforting and cozy and warm and homey...and as much like a hug as possible. Those are the words I would use to describe autumn's touch.
Nature has its own touch in autumn. Pumpkins are smooth to the touch and gourds are bumpy. Leaves crinkle like confetti when you touch them and the ground is crunchy under my feet. Autumn in nature also means piling in firewood to the campfire in the evenings and feeling the texture of the dry wood in my hands. And sometimes, it's the way the earth feels soggy and soaked with autumn rains and leaves clumped together as if they are all one.
Experience autumn's touch...
Slow down and notice how autumn makes you feel when you touch it...in the clothing you wear, in nature, and pay attention to the textures around you. Make sure your are surrounded with soft, warm, cozy, comforting textures, and savour the way they wrap you up like a hug.
Autumn's Sights
In autumn, there are colors bursting forth on trees all around...if you're in a part of the world where you are able to enjoy seasonal changes in their proper fullness. In my corner of the world, we get to see a bit of color here and there, but mostly the leaves just turn brown and that's about it. But we do get to enjoy a host of color with pumpkins of various shapes, sizes and even colors on porches all over town. Pots of mums grace many front door steps too, and they are some of my favorite. Squirrels are running around through the trees and acorns are literally everywhere. Not to mention the leaves...hundreds of thousands of them it seems. Autumn's golden light streaming in through the windows and then as night falls, soft lamplight filling the room. Twinkly fairy lights gracing bookshelves and windows and fabric bunting on the mantle.
Seasonal decorations are in homes and gardens galore and it makes for the most wonderful sights...both when you're in your own home or driving through town. The flannel sheets and blankets and cozy clothing and seasonal mugs and dishes also make their yearly return. And every year, we add a few new decorations, usually a few bought at the shops and a few handmade. Really everywhere you look, there isn't a doubt in your mind that it is, indeed, autumn.
Experience autumn's sights...
Go outside and LOOK. Really see what's around you and savour the sights of autumn in nature. Come inside and add autumn to your home...in the comforts of home and the decorations you add for beauty and fun. Then, perhaps, make a few new decorations to add some autumnal vibes to your home. Use softer light for a gentle atmosphere in the evenings as the nightfall comes earlier.
Autumn's Sounds
The sounds of autumn...the whistle of a kettle, the bubbling of simmering soup, the instrumental music that fills the air as I work and play, leaves crunching underfoot, the whirling wind outside, rain tapping against the window at night, the gentle whir of the diffuser as it puts forth spicy scents into the air. Squirrels chasing one another on the roof and hearing the pitter-patter of their feet from indoors, the sound of pages turning in beloved novels, scissors cutting as crafts are being created, birds singing their morning chorus. All of these are just the start of the sounds of autumn in my home.
Experience autumn's sounds...
Once again, go outside and LISTEN. Pay attention to the ground you walk on and how it sounds as you move. Notice the squirrels and birds and other critters. In your home, make an autumn playlist or have music that is extra cozy and delightful to listen to as you go about your daily activities.
As I mentioned above, in our home, we love adding new decorations for every season and we love making some of these ourselves. A few years ago, a favorite blogger of mine shared the cutest autumn craft and I marked it as something that I wanted to make sometime. Well, that "sometime" came last month. It was an easy project and was the perfect thing to work on whilst I watched Gilmore Girls one night (the perfect cozy show!). I chose wooden buttons and a variety of red buttons as my "leaves" for the tree and added a few tiny beads here and there as well. I am so pleased with how it turned out and am thinking I want to make a tree for each season with leaves in colors to match that time of year. A rainbow of pastel colors for springtime, green for summer with a few bursts of color here and there and for winter, I'm thinking purple and blue to sort of resemble an icy look. I love having this cute decoration hanging in my room...and another one in our family room...and I love it even more because it was a fun project that I got to enjoy one evening.
Why not choose your own project to work on and add a little autumn to your home?
What are your favorite ways to experience autumn's fullness with all your senses? Share below!