Too early for fall decor

There are two camps today in the decor world:

Those who think it’s too early to decorate for fall and those who think it’s never too early to decorate for fall.

I fall into the former camp.

It’s August. It’s Arizona. We’re still dealing with 100-plus-degree temperatures outside. No amount of plastic pumpkins is going to cool the weather or make autumn come faster. No amount of maple leaves strewn across the walk are going to psyche me into thinking it’s 60 degrees out.

Besides, I don’t hate summer. In fact, I’ve come to enjoy it.

Summer loving

Summer is Phoenix’s slow time. The off season. It’s the time of year that fewer people are in town (though I wouldn’t know from experience anymore since I rarely leave the house).

Summer is the quieter season. Hardly anyone is outside. Neighbors walk their dogs or venture outdoors for exercise in the early morning hours or later at night, and the walks are pretty quick. It’s a virtual ghost town compared to winter months.

Summer is hibernation time, which works for my hermit tendencies. There’s nothing more comforting on a blazing-hot day than air-conditioning, the sound of cicadas and an afternoon nap.

But here’s the real truth.

Enjoy today

Pumpkins lead to turkeys, which lead to snowmen and Christmas trees. Then, we’re at the eve of the New Year.

I’m in no rush to see 2020 end. Not because it’s been a fabulous year, but because it hasn’t been a fabulous year. Sound crazy? Let me break it down for you.

The years move fast enough as it is, and 2020 has moved faster than any of my 48 years. Time is slipping through my hands, and I still have a lot goals I want to accomplish.

On a larger scale, I want to hold onto the year so that something good can come of it. Even though the chances of that are slim, I can still hope. If this still doesn’t make sense, let me flip it around for you.

What will 2021 bring? Maybe a vaccine. Maybe social change. Maybe peace on our streets. The new year could bring all of those things, or one or two of those things. Or it could bring none of those things.

What if 2021 is more of the same, or worse? So why wish away the time we do have? Why wish away our lives for something that isn’t guaranteed?

Besides, I’m not 100 percent certain that nothing good has happened in 2020.

Small joys

Take this blog, for instance. This blog had been in the works since 2018 when John and I decided to buy a new house together. I had big plans for decorating each room and sharing the journey on a design blog.

After some procrastination, I finally put my butt in gear, bought a laptop and got to writing. Because I have a full-time job, I knew I would have to devote evenings and weekends to the blog.

But not even two weeks after launching Designing Goldilocks, my employer told me to work from home until further notice because of the coronavirus. That meant I could turn the two hours per day I spent commuting into working on content for this blog. What a gift.

That’s not to say I’m thankful for the virus. Nothing could be further from the truth. Does 2020 suck? Yes, it does. But I also believe we can find small joys in 202o if we simply stop and look around.

Discoveries

And that’s exactly it. No one stops anymore. Everyone is on the go. Chasing the next thing rather than enjoying what they have. And I’m guilty of this myself, which is why I can speak to it.

If nothing else comes out of 2020, I would hope that I at least realized what’s important in life. Even though I write a design blog, I’m taking a more minimalist approach to home decor.

I’m buying what’s essential – rugs, curtains, furniture – and saying no to tabletop items, which is really all that fall decor is.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s fun to shop for this stuff and decorate the house and lawn. One of my guilty pleasures is watching others venture into stores and sharing on social media new finds from Target, HomeGoods, and other decor stores. But it’s no fun taking down the stuff and finding a place to store it.

Stuff is not important. It’s who you have in your life that’s important. The coronavirus hasn’t kept me from my stuff. The virus has kept me from family, friends, and the freedom to explore the world and the gems within my beautiful state.

Rather than rush to set up hay bales on my front porch, I long to travel to real pumpkin patches and sunflower fields. Rather than create a fall facade across the lawn, I long to drive to the mountains and see real leaves changing colors.

But I can’t have that. At least not right now. Maybe I can spend time with family and travel a year from now. But there’s no guarantee. So why rush the time away? I know what I have today. And I’m okay with today – the joys, the warts and all.