Learning to savor the season

“You know, it was only supposed to hit him in the chest, but they got the aim wrong.”

Dave and I were sprawled on the couch last night watching The Exorcist, and he added that little fun fact during the famous vomit scene. Fabulous! I love a sprinkle of trivia with my film-viewing.

More importantly, watching The Exorcist was the latest in my incredibly successful run of Engaging with the Season, but Passively. (By the way: This was my first time watching this movie! I still don’t understand why the old priest was doing an archaeological dig at the beginning!)

As previously disclosed, I am not a fall person. But what I also know about my strong and mostly irrational personality is that I do enjoy getting sucked into a vibe, however briefly. So to better manage the dropping temperatures/quickening nightfall/worsening attitude, I have been leaning into the autumnal spirit by barely lifting a finger to enjoy everyone else’s far more concerted efforts. I am a child of America’s Funniest Home Videos. Amuse me!!!

Before I dive into 🎃 the research 🎃 (festive!), here is a brief list of all the ways I have leaned in by leaning back:

• Spooky books. After (unintentionally) rereading Woman in Black — imagining London smog is honestly creepy enough. How have the Brits stayed there so long?? — I’ve since been making my way through Rosemary’s Baby. It is fantastic and an excellent case for literary dream sequences because, when reading it, can we really be sure that she’s in the midst of a satanic ritual when she’s also imagining hanging out with the recently deceased JFK?? “The President was in his Navy uniform. He had completely recovered from the assassination and looked better than ever.” Lmao, even male authors realized that the ladies will always be hot for Kennedy, bullet to the brain be damned.

• Peeping your Halloween decor. I am not going to bother decorating. I rent! Where are these people putting their 30-foot skeletons in the off season?? But since there are plenty of freaks in the neighborhood, I can take a walk in nearly any direction and come across some very decent decorations. I do have a question for the culture historians in the audience, though: Did Martha Stewart usher in (or at least popularize) the modern era of tasteful Halloween decor? Half of the nice houses I see look something like, “We have TASTE and endless PUMPKIN CASH so we will have 60-some pumpkins in NEUTRAL TONES cascading down our front steps!!!”

• Flavors. I would sooner eat the gum from under a movie theater seat than having anything that has been pumpkin-spiced. I do, however, like to start eating seasonal meals when the time comes. If you’re thinking, Sarah, making food does not sound effortless — and thank you for acknowledging my labor — I figure that I have to feed myself one way or another. Might as well make it this roasted beet and carrot dip that I only make during root vegetable months.

The reality, though, is that none of this has been truly passive. I have to turn the pages of the book, take the brisk walk, and put the beets in the food processor. But the most important effort I make is in the “savoring” of the season.

Fred Bryant, a social psychologist at Loyola University Chicago, has found that when people stop to savor the “good stuff,” they build resilience that helps to manage stress. In 2012, he shared ways to develop savoring as a skill with Greater Good Magazine (a publication from the University of California, Berkeley). One of my favorites on the list is “Get absorbed in the moment.” On an evening when I took a walk with my friend Monica and her dog, we were diligent about our peeping Halloween decorations: We talked at length about thematic decor and childhood Halloween memories, and I even brought along a speaker to play spooky music as we strolled. Short of inhaling some fun-sized Kit-Kats, we reached near-peak seasonal immersion.

Something else about letting yourself appreciate the neighbors’ hard work hanging ghosts and bloodied dolls from their eaves: A study from the late 80s found that people use holiday decor “as a cue that the residents were friendly and cohesive.” Considering everything lately, it’s nice to toddle around with some warm, fuzzy feelings about the folks next door.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention one of Bryant’s other big tips for savoring life: “Avoid killjoy thinking.” As your Hater-in-Chief, please understand how difficult this directive is. Yet here I am, crunching leaves and watching award-winning vomit scenes.