Wake Me Up When September Ends

Heading into September, and I'm feeling apprehensive. I don't necessarily have the numbers to back it up, but September always feels like a hectic and stressful month for me. I feel like there are always too many things to do and so many things I have to say yes to, and I end up overwhelmed. It's unfortunate because it is usually the most beautiful month of fall here. If you want a fall wedding in Central Alberta with excellent leaf colour still on the trees, the third week of September is your best bet. 

Random wedding recommendations aside, because I am not getting married and I am also, luckily, not going to any this year, I struggle with September. I don't even have kids or a job that revolves around children and the school schedule, so I can't imagine what September feels like for people in education and those responsible for children. 

It's also an uncomfortable start this year because despite finally cooling off in the evenings, we're still getting days of over 30 degrees most days. Which I'm not loving. I keep hoping these hot days will be over soon, but they keep pushing the high numbers to the next day and then the next. 

There's also been a lot of events in the past couple of weeks that are emotionally challenging. News of people I know dying, anxiety attacks about a freelance job (finally starting to realize I do have those, learning to identify them), booking annual vet appointments, planning a road trip. Then, of course, all the other typical life things. I often feel like it's too much for my brain. Earlier this week, Audrey Burges tweeted this:

And I felt that. I feel like I need an adult available to pop by on 5 minutes' notice to help me figure out whatever is my latest crisis. I also said to a friend the other day that I wish I could have coffee with my therapist every morning, so she could be like, "It's going to be ok; here's what you have to do today, and here's how you're going to manage your emotions to get through it."

Therapy is the other thing that's been emotionally taxing lately. I'm very grateful to be regularly seeing a therapist again. She's proven very helpful to me so far, and she's had some great suggestions for me. But it's also a bunch of extra emotional effort to process and work through things and then try to implement new techniques and strategies in my life. 

So, if you managed to get through all of that and you’re also stressed about September, I get you. I think we'll survive it, if we reach out to each other for support.