Between the pressure of new beginnings and the tenderness of self-acceptance: September as a reminder that it’s also possible to start slowly.
By Lidia Roselló
HoyLunes – September has something of a trap; it isn’t the first month of the year, but it feels like it. Bookstores fill up with planners carrying motivational messages. Social media fills with goals that smell like freshly brewed coffee and many phrases like “new season, new goals”.
And meanwhile, you’re trying to wrestle with the exhaustion of a summer in which you didn’t rest as much as your body was asking for, and with the ever-lower numbers in your bank account.
Because, let’s be honest, sometimes September catches us without energy. Here in Valencia we’re still sweating, with the heat clinging to our skin, emotions in turmoil, and that constant hum circling your head telling you it’s time to get going, even though many times you’re not sure where to.
“It’s time to go back to the gym, to eat healthy, to leave behind the ice creams, the endless dinners with friends. Have you ever thought that, perhaps, the real purpose of September isn’t in the to-do lists, but in relearning how to live without hurry?
Without demands.
Without any kind of emotional makeup.
Just finding your own rhythm.
Making room for silence.
Without forgetting the small rituals that make you feel at home: a good book, a glass of milk before bed, a lit candle…”
When I talk to friends who have to prepare for back-to-school; already since the end of August they’ve reserved books, looked at new backpacks, markers, notebooks… And they prepare their return to work while their children are still on vacation…
And in the middle of all that invisible whirlwind, a small but powerful truth reaches me: I’ve understood that there are years when one doesn’t always start with strength, but with doubts. And you know what? That is also starting.
Because there are comebacks that aren’t announced with Instagram photos, but whispered. So today, September first, I don’t want to promise myself anything. I just want to embrace the person I am, to care for myself as I care for the people I love most. To speak to myself with patience, with tenderness, and with presence.
And if you too are there, running on half-power, I want you to know you’re not alone. By the way, this year there’s no list. Just one sentence written in big letters on the fridge so I don’t forget it in November:
“Don’t demand yourself to bloom every September, sometimes it’s enough not to wither”.
And remember, the door of the orange room will always be open for you.
#hoylunes, #lidia_roselló,
