Pumpkin spice, stickers, and colder weather.

I love fall. 

Winter may be my favorite season, but fall has my favorite holiday: Halloween. It has been my favorite for as long I can remember. I am, as always, beyond excited for the season to start. Honestly, I’m a little baffled at how quickly this year is going by, but September beginning brings my favorite time of year even closer. 

Work

I guess it is to be expected that “Pumpkin Spice Season” seems to happen earlier and earlier every year. I somehow assumed that people would not be eager to get onboard with pumpkin spice in August, but that was apparently an extremely misguided guess, because the so-called “Pumpkin Hype,” is absolutely insane. 

Almost every single person who comes to Starbucks seems to get something pumpkin-related. I admire the marketing capabilities of the company to get so many people onboard with pumpkin as the temperatures here in Idaho lingered in the 90s during the first few days of the launch. 

This Week On Praxis

I have a lot more habits than I realized. 

I spent a few days keeping track of every habit that I noticed, trying to understand what I did the most and least. Overall, I am happy to say that the majority of my habits are productive; at least, it could definitely be worse. 

In my opinion, my most productive habits are related to stress management, health, wellness and creativity. I draw, play music, do breathing exercises, workout daily and make sure to stay rested enough I can do the best work I capable of. 

Of course, it’s not a foolproof system; sometimes I don’t sleep enough or I don’t take any time for my creative habits. If I neglect to embrace some of my stress management tools, I notice more of my bad habits like biting my nails and clenching my jaw. That said, I appreciate the room to change for the better. 

As for habits I am trying to improve for myself, I chose to focus on: 

• Reading for 30 minutes a day
• Making my bed in the mornings 
• Updating my task list daily

The nice thing I’ve realized about trying to do these things is that if I mess up and miss something, I can always try again the next day. 

Also in Praxis, I am putting the finishing touches on my About Me video, and I completed a case study on Siete Foods this week. I’ve also started reading through the next book in the program, Atomic Habits by James Clear. 

Art and Music 

As previously mentioned, I love Halloween.

September officially beginning does give me an excuse to start breaking out a fall theme for my art and designs. Not that the season as ever stopped me; my most popular stickers I sell are skulls and zombies, and I definitely keep them available all year round. 

I am already attempting to prepare for Christmas ornament season, but I am going to give myself time to focus on Halloween for a while. 

Other Updates

I am absolutely ecstatic that it’s getting colder. This definitely fits with my theme this week, so I thought it was worth mentioning. After a summer of record breaking highs, raging wildfires, and smoke it the air, it finally, finally rained this week. 

Three days of rain! 

It’s done incredible things for the air quality and for my attitude towards life in general. 

Looking Into Next Week

I am planning to keep focusing on habit improvement. I don’t know why I have struggled a little bit with things as simple as making my bed first thing or updating a to-do list, but hey! I have something to focus on mastering. 

I am looking forward to seeing if fall drinks at work get even more popular as the weather turns. 

I am looking forward to finishing some new Halloween/fall themed designs. 

I am looking forward to tackling the next week of Praxis.