Autumn is all around!

Currently listening to:
Empire of the Sun, Walking on a Dream
Miike Snow, Animal
Del Barber, 62 Richmond
Sufjan Stevens, The Lakes of Canada

Autumn is here, and I love it. This is my favorite time of the year, for sure. Cool breezes, warm rays of sunshine, and a certain crispness to the air that can only be described as the smell of Fall. Every time I look through our kitchen to the trees behind our back porch I have to smile: their leaves have become yellows and oranges, a dying fire of color in a world that slips towards winter. It is a time that needs to be savored to the uttermost.

I'm trying to figure out what to do with my life right now. Not in the grand scheme of things, but in the current scheme: day to day, using my time in a way that will make me feel good about myself. I have deleted my Facebook, and that feels good. I've wasted a lot less time on the internet in the last few days, and rediscovering the patience to read peoples' blogs and actually feel a bit more seriously connected to what's happening in their lives is a refreshing discipline. Trying to find that healthy balance between homework and socializing is tough, but I'm working on it. The hardest part is muscling in the exercise aspect of things. I've been looking at a very clever and helpful website recently for tips on simplifying your life. It's been useful: things like trying to make a list of my top 5 priorities and figuring if things are actually worth it or not. Currently, my list is something like this:

Friends & Family
Nature
Music
Good Grades/School
Exercise

Obviously, these are some broad categories, but I could say that they are all important to me. Not that I'm an exercise-aholic, but certainly cycling and hiking and the like have always been a big part of my life, and yet where are they when I come out here? Nature is a huge part of my being, and yet I connect so little with it when I am at school. And I wonder why I can have such a hard time here. What's happening to my priorities? It is indeed true that something's got to give, and I think I know exactly what things they are.

Change is imminent. It is happening. It is on the air: that crisp, cool, autumn air that whistles through these gray Chicago streets. It's in these leaves which burst into flame and then fall to the ground. Indeed, it is here. It has already begun.