A couple of years ago, while meandering through Barnes & Noble, I came upon an absolute treasure I have been enjoying—no—obsessing over ever since. Bella Grace magazine, a journal-type publication with seasonal issues that look, feel, and read as if someone cocooned me, broke me down to my very essence, and I emerged as a magazine.

This year’s autumn edition has been on my nightstand since the end of August, and just about every night I read an essay, soak in its lovely photography, or write through one of their guided “worksheets.”

Two of these worksheets in particular have revolutionized my fall so far.

For anyone who knows me, you know I am an Autumn. Something in me comes alive on September first and remains in an all-around state of cozy thriving until around the first of May (when it actually starts to feel like spring in my southwest Michigan neck of the woods). Call it Cozy Season, Sweater Weather, or—my personal favorite—the Bers and the Arys. This is the time of year when I feel like my absolute best and truest self.

However, these months and this time of year, with all its hustle & bustle—back-to-school energy, followed quickly by Halloween costuming, trailed hot on its heels by Thanksgiving and Christmas—if I’m not careful, I sneeze and it’s January.

I hate it when fall feels this way.

Sometime during the first week of September, I found and started working on a calendar in my magazine created for the sole purpose of recording the onset of fall, one happening at a time.

What a gift and fall-savoring game changer this has been.

For years I have kept a gratitude journal in order to intentionally notice and write down things I am thankful for. I am absolutely convinced this process has tons of benefits, many of which are proven by research.

Perhaps the benefit I love the most is how noticing has a tendency to literally slow things down.

With the very lively household I have, it is all too easy to get caught in the day’s demands and fail to notice my four-year-old has worn the same (dirty) T-shirt for three days straight, let alone the first morning with temps in the 40s or the first night it’s dark before 9:00.

But when I do, even if just for a moment, I am actively slowing down my mind and senses enough to still, watch, and register what’s unfolding all around me.

It’s magnificent!

This September, rather than passing with its typical breakneck speed, has actually seemed to linger and mosey a little slower than usual.

And of course, this has me thinking.

If I can harness a way to slow down September, what other slowing magic might I conjure with a blank calendar or journal page?

Red’s evolution from my baby boy toddler to full-fledged little man?

Chosen’s progression from preschool to kindergarten?

Year 25 of our marriage?

Christmastide?

So many things I want to slow down to linger in a little longer.

I can’t stop them, but I can actively notice and record the fragile and fleeting moments that happen along the way. For a moment I can pause the maddening speed.

So, in honor of September and her two remaining days, I would love to finish this month and this post with an inspiration from worksheet No. 2…which reads:

“Imagine trying to describe September to someone who has never experienced it before, but you aren’t allowed to use the words fall, autumn, leaves or pumpkins. Instead, paint a picture using all the words that capture what September is to you.”

My list is long, but here are a few of my favorites. May your Cozy Season be filled with moments that make time stand still.

September is corn stalks, once lush and green, now golden brown and papery; waiting to feed the beasts of the field.

September is school supplies, You’ve Got Mail, and bouquets of sharpened pencils.

September is Starbucks and the return of a beloved drink and a text to a beloved friend who knows.

September is Carolina-blue skies with zero humidity, heat, or haze.

September is short sleeves, long sleeves, shorts, and jeans, as back and forth as each day’s high and low temps.

September is the return to workbooks, rhythms, schedules, and purposeful routines after summer’s purposeful play.

September is the appetizer, October the main course, November the dessert in a feast for my soul.