As PJ was cleaning up the leaves beside our house yesterday and I was obsessing over how beautiful the colors were, it got me thinking…
Why do we all love fall so damn much? What is it about autumn that makes everyone so excited every year to break out the cardigans, PSL’s, and watch Hocus Pocus on repeat? I decided to do a little research and, it turns out, there’s actually a reasonable, scientific reason why we’re all drawn to the second to last season of the year.
According to Kathryn Lively, “We’re conditioned from a very early age that autumn comes with all these exciting things. As children, we come to associate fall with going back to school, new school supplies, seeing friends. It’s exciting, for most. We still respond to this pattern that we experienced for eighteen years.”
In fact, the seasons seem to have more meaning than we all think. Researchers have found that “Much as physical landmarks help structure our representation of space, temporal landmarks such as birthdays and significant calendar dates structure our perception of time.” So in September, for example, the new season could represent a fresh start for many. As the weather and leaves change, your mindset might, too. After the year it’s been (so far), I feel like we’re all looking for as much of a fresh start as we can get.
Lively says that humans also view fall as comforting. “If we live in a place where the seasons turn dramatically, we break out flannel shirts, thicker blankets, we shake off salads and ice-creams for heavier stews and soup. From a sociological lens, our emotions are tied inextricably to the meaning that we make about ourselves, others, events and times of year.”
The article also points out, rather importantly, that the darker, colder, and shorter days can also cause depression for some people, which is another way your mood and feelings can change with the seasons. For some, it’s not always a positive season of starting fresh.
My associations and my love affair with fall are spot on with what Lively explains. I associate it with a feeling of coziness and security; lots of family moments during Thanksgiving and Christmas; comforting, warm food; and enjoying the cooler weather, which is such a nice respite from the blazing heat we get here in Tennessee all summer (which, unfortunately, sometimes spills into fall).
So there you have it! That’s the (extremely valid) reason why autumn is the best season of them all.
