Header photo credit to Chris Lawton, @chrislawton

If you clicked on this post thinking it was going to be about puberty, or about that one, really creepy—okay, one of the really creepy—Brady Bunch episode(s) about the same, know now that it’s not.

Fall is upon us, baybeez, and this fall baby is excited. My solar-powered partner is lamenting the end of summer, but fall has always been my favorite season, and not just because of my birthday.

Fall is time to break out the fuzzy sweaters, make stews and soups, and drink all of those scrumptious, steamy drinks.

(But not Pumpkin Spice. Anything. Pumpkin Spice is the perversion of all that is Holy and Pure about Samhain.)

We often think of spring as the season of newness, but fall brings just as many changes, and they are as powerful, or perhaps more powerful, than spring.

Fall is usually when I feel the most in sync with the world around me. My corner of the world, anyway. As someone who manages depression–some days better than others–it helps when the temperature cooperates with the kind of clothes that feel most comfortable on my body. It helps that the everything seems to slow a bit, coming down from its summer high but not yet accelerating toward the holidays. It helps that I’m settled into my fall routine, whatever that looks like. It helps.

Whether your mental health needs are few or many, the change of seasons is a good time to take stock of how you’re feeling. If you use medication, is it effective? If not, make a list of the ways it’s not working for you and ask your doctor if there are other options. If you’re in therapy, it’s might be time to review previous goals and set new ones.

However you feel about fall, put on a sweatshirt, drink that pumpkin spice latte, and try to embrace the change… because it’s going to happen, whether you embrace it or not.

What’s your favorite thing about fall?

How do you the changing seasons impact your mood and well-being?