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Day 7 of 31 Days of October: A Photo + Writing Challenge

If you looked at this photo without the ghosts, skeletons, and giant creepy figure lurking between the branches, you might not immediately guess that it was taken in October.

The tree is still green.

The sun is shining through the leaves.

There isn’t a blanket of orange and red scattered across the ground.

Fall in California doesn’t always arrive the way it does in the movies.

And strangely enough, I think that makes this tree the perfect photo for today.

Changing With the Seasons

Today’s writing prompt asks:

What does changing with the seasons mean to you right now?

When I think about seasons changing, I usually picture something obvious.

Leaves turning colors. Temperatures dropping. Days getting shorter. One season clearly ending so another can begin.

But looking at this tree made me realize that change isn’t always that obvious.

Sometimes you’re already in a new season before everything around you looks different.

And maybe that’s where I am right now.

There are things I’m trying that I wouldn’t have tried before. I’m writing more. I’m sharing more. I’m putting pieces of myself out into the world through this blog, my photos, my little creative projects, and even the things I love that might seem a little strange to somebody else.

Tarot cards.

Haunted places.

Halloween decorations.

Travel.

Food.

Photography.

Stories about ordinary days that somehow become worth remembering once I sit down and write about them.

For a long time, I think I felt like I needed to figure out exactly what I was doing before I could really begin.

Lately, I’m learning that maybe beginning is how you figure it out.

Not Every Season Looks the Same

There’s something else I love about this tree.

It’s October 7, and it’s not putting on a spectacular fall show.

It’s just… doing its thing.

Still green. Still growing. Still changing in ways I probably can’t see yet.

And maybe we put too much pressure on ourselves to make every season of our lives look impressive from the outside.

Sometimes growth looks exciting.

Sometimes it looks like a big leap.

And sometimes it looks exactly like yesterday — even though something underneath the surface has started shifting.

I think I’m learning to appreciate that kind of change, too.

I don’t have to wake up tomorrow with everything figured out.

I don’t need thousands of followers to keep creating.

I don’t need every idea to turn into something successful to make it worth trying.

And I definitely don’t need my life to look like someone else’s version of what this season is supposed to be.

Besides… It’s Definitely October Around Here

Of course, if the tree isn’t going to announce that fall has arrived, I’ll happily help it out.

Apparently, that means ghosts hanging from branches, skeletons crawling out of the dirt, and something enormous and creepy standing guard over the front yard.

Subtlety has never really been Halloween’s thing anyway.

And I love it.

There is something about decorating for October that makes an ordinary space feel a little more magical. The same tree I’ve walked past countless times suddenly becomes part of a haunted little world we’ve created.

Maybe that’s another lesson hidden in today’s photo.

Sometimes you don’t need everything around you to change.

Sometimes you change the way you see it.

Whatever Season You’re In…

Maybe you’re in a season of starting over.

Maybe you’re building something.

Maybe you’re healing.

Maybe you’re finally doing something you’ve talked yourself out of for years.

Or maybe nothing huge is happening at all.

You’re simply changing quietly.

Growing quietly.

Figuring things out one day at a time.

That’s still a season.

And just because the leaves haven’t changed color yet doesn’t mean change isn’t happening.

So today I’m taking a picture of a green tree in October — ghosts, skeletons and all — and reminding myself that there isn’t one correct way to change with the seasons.

Sometimes the transformation is obvious.

Sometimes it’s happening underneath the surface.

And sometimes you just hang a few ghosts from the branches while you wait.

Day 7 complete.

31 Days of October: A Photo + Writing Challenge

Photo Prompt: A Tree

Writing Prompt: What does changing with the seasons mean to you right now?

Excerpt:

The leaves may still be green, but that doesn’t mean nothing is changing. Day 7 of my October challenge has me thinking about quiet growth, new seasons, and why change doesn’t always look the way we expect it to.