Greetings my lovelies,

Hello, October. 🍂

Here in Tucson, it’s currently 61°F, and I am extremely happy this morning with these cooler temperatures. It finally feels a little closer to fall than it did in September. We’ve had a few days of rain thanks in part to tropical moisture coming up from Hurricane Polo in Mexico, and this morning we still have water dripping from the rooftop and the ground outside is completely saturated.

This is my kind of weather.

Everything feels damp and fresh outside, the air is cooler, and instead of stepping outdoors and immediately wondering why I voluntarily live somewhere approximately three feet from the surface of the sun, I actually want to sit outside with my magic bean potion and enjoy it. 😂☕🌧️

I’m also missing my sister Vickie this morning, and I miss Sadie already too. I absolutely loved my trip to California. There was so much to see, and somehow, even after everything we did, there is still so much I didn’t get to see. Maybe next time in the new year. 

Who am I kidding? I’m already thinking about it. 😂 

Hopefully Ronnie can come with me next time if we can find a good pet sitter, because there are places I still want to explore and things I want him to experience with me.

But this morning, I’m home. It’s cool, it’s wet, I’ve got my magic bean potion, and it’s October.

There is something about turning the calendar to a brand-new month that makes you feel like you’re supposed to immediately produce a list. 

Goals. Plans. Things to accomplish. Habits to start. Habits to stop. 

Thirty-one days to somehow become a healthier, happier, more organized, more productive human being before November shows up demanding answers.

Yeah, no. 😂

That’s not what I want from October. 

This morning, I’m much more interested in asking myself a different question: What do I want October to feel like?

And the answer that keeps coming back to me is surprisingly simple.

I want it to feel like I’m actually living it.

I Want Easier Mornings

I don’t want my mornings to begin with stress. You know those mornings when your eyes open and your brain immediately starts firing off the day’s responsibilities before your feet have even touched the floor.

Work. Get dressed. Feed everybody. Find this. Do that. Don’t forget the other thing.

Good morning to you too, brain. 😂

I want something different. I want to get up early enough that there is room between waking up and becoming Employee Rae. 

I want to make my magic bean potion and take it outside to the patio now that Arizona is finally beginning to understand that human beings are not rotisserie chickens.

I want to sit there for a little while with my mug warm between my hands and that first rich aroma rising with the steam. I want to feel the cooler morning air against my skin and listen to the neighborhood slowly waking up while the desert sky changes with the early light. 

Maybe I’ll write. 

Maybe I’ll sit quietly. 

Maybe I’ll do absolutely nothing except breathe, sip my magic bean potion and watch the morning happen.

Honestly, that sounds pretty damn luxurious to me.

And since we’re bringing back the days when we actually talked around here, I have to know something. 

How do you drink your magic bean potion?

Are you a plain black magic bean potion person? 

Cream and sugar? 

Flavored creamer? 

Iced magic bean potion even when it’s freezing outside? 

Or do you order something so elaborate that we’re really stretching the definition of magic bean potion? 😂

If you don’t partake in the glorious magic bean potion, you’re not getting out of the question that easily. 

What’s your go-to morning drink? 

Tea? 

Hot chocolate? 

Juice? 

Lemon water? 

Something else entirely? 

We’re keeping this particular conversation non-alcoholic because we’re talking about morning beverages here, people—although somewhere in the world I’m sure someone just whispered, mimosa. 😂

I want to know what you’re drinking while we’re sitting here talking. You grab your drink, I’ll grab my magic bean potion, and we’ll have a morning together.

That’s the feeling I want back.

I also want time in the morning to ground myself before I hand my attention over to the rest of the world. 

I want to reconnect with something I’ve neglected lately—my witchy self. 

My spirituality, my gods and goddesses, my ancestors, my intuition and the quiet little rituals that make me feel connected to something beyond emails, schedules, errands, notifications and everything else constantly demanding attention.

Not because I need another item for my morning routine. Quite the opposite. I want a few moments when there isn’t a routine. 

Just me, my magic bean potion and the morning.

I Want to Move Because I Have a Body, Not Punish It

I also want October to be the beginning of getting stronger again, and I deliberately said stronger. 

I’m not interested in spending the month obsessing over a scale, starving myself, depriving myself or turning food into some ridiculous moral test where lettuce makes me virtuous and a piece of bread means I’ve failed at life.

I want breakfast—a good one, whatever that happens to look like on a particular morning. 

I want to get my butt out of my desk chair during my breaks instead of realizing several hours later that apparently I’ve fused with it. 😂

Lunch is only half an hour, so taking some grand leisurely neighborhood walk isn’t particularly realistic. But I can get up, move around the house, stretch my legs and step outside. 

Now that the afternoons are becoming cooler, I can also walk after work or after dinner. Nothing dramatic. Just movement, fresh air, my legs working, my heart pumping, Ronnie beside me sometimes and maybe an Arizona sunset thrown in for good measure.

That’s the kind of healthy I want—something that adds to my life instead of taking everything enjoyable away from it.

I Want October to Be FUN

I think I’ve spent enough time taking life seriously. October needs a soundtrack.

I want to make an October playlist for my workdays, and I don’t mean nothing but Halloween music. 

I want songs that somehow feel like October. 

Some can be witchy or spooky. Some can be old favorites. Some can have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with fall but make you turn them up because they’re impossible to hear without singing along.

I want music playing while I work, while I’m cleaning the house, while we’re making dinner or while I’m sitting here writing. 

And this is where I need your help: 

What belongs on our October playlist?

Give me your songs in the comments. Old songs, new songs, happy songs, witchy songs, completely ridiculous songs—I don’t care. If it makes October more fun, I want it.

🎶 A Little Something for Today: Help Me Build the October Playlist

Today’s little something is ridiculously simple: give me one song that puts you in a good mood. You can give me more than one because I know perfectly well some of us are physically incapable of choosing one favorite anything. 😂

I’ll start gathering your suggestions along with mine, and we’ll see what kind of gloriously random October soundtrack we create together.

I also want an October watch list filled with Halloween movies, cozy movies, spooky movies, old favorites and whatever else sounds fun. 

Maybe we’ll build that together too. 

We can talk about books, swap recipes, make things, try crafts and share whatever other random fun we stumble across.

We’re going to have some fun around here again.

I want to decorate the house more for fall and Halloween and make it feel warm and cozy without actual heat, because Arizona has provided quite enough of that, thank you very much. 

I want our home to feel comfortable, lived-in, happy and a little witchy—full of animals, laughter, good food, music, the smell of magic bean potion in the morning and whatever Ronnie and I happen to get ourselves into.

I want to read and write. 

I want adventures and quiet mornings. 

I want time with Ronnie and all our furry and finned little creatures. 

I want to work on Vividly Rae, get outside, explore and still have days when absolutely nothing exciting happens.

Basically, when asked what I want more of, my answer appears to be yes. 😂

I Want This Blog to Feel Like Life Again

That’s something else I’ve been thinking about. I miss the way blogging used to feel.

There was a time when I could wake up, pour my magic bean potion and simply share my morning with you. We’d talk. I’d tell you what was going on around here, and we’d wander into whatever happened to be on my mind. 

There might be a recipe one day, a book the next, something I made, something I discovered, somewhere we went or something completely ridiculous that happened around the house.

Not everything had to become a deep exploration of the human condition. Sometimes a mug of magic bean potion is just a damn good mug of magic bean potion. ☕✨

I want that back.

So you’re going to see more of that around here. 

Recipes, crafts, books, witchy things, Arizona adventures, home projects, music, movies, animals, food, random discoveries, my thoughts and our everyday life.

Maybe one morning I’ll give you a recipe I’m loving. Another day we’ll talk about whatever strange magical creature has appeared in the book I’m reading. 😂 

We might build a movie list together, try a craft, share something we’re cooking for dinner, talk about a place Ronnie and I discovered or spend an entire post discussing something completely inconsequential simply because it made me laugh.

There will still be deeper posts when I have something worth saying, but I want Vividly Rae to feel like somewhere you can visit again.

Come in, grab your magic bean potion—or whatever is in your cup—sit down and let’s see what happens today.

Maybe I’ll Fall in Love With Arizona Again

This one surprised me. When I thought about what I hoped October might teach me, I kept coming back to wonder. 

I want to look at the world with a little more childlike curiosity and wonder, maybe even wander. The kind where you actually notice things instead of rushing past them.

And maybe part of that means looking at Arizona differently.

I’ve complained about the heat enough to qualify for some sort of award. 😂 But there is more to living here than summer temperatures that make opening the front door feel like checking the inside of an oven.

There are mountains and desert trails. Saguaros standing against enormous skies. Sunsets that turn everything gold, pink, orange and purple. Cooler mornings are coming, and cooler evenings too.

There are places nearby we’ve never explored simply because they’re nearby. It’s funny how we’ll travel hundreds of miles looking for adventure while ignoring things twenty minutes from our own front door.

Maybe October is when I start looking again. Maybe I’ll discover something new.

Maybe I’ll even fall a little bit in love with Arizona again.

By October 31…

I don’t want to look back and judge this month by how productive I was. I want memories, photographs and stories. 

I want little moments that seemed insignificant when they happened but somehow became the things I remember.

I want to be able to look back through October and say:

Damn. I actually lived this month.

That’s what I’m after. Not perfection. Not transformation in thirty-one convenient steps. Not becoming some brand-new version of myself.

I want to enjoy the life I already have while continuing to build the life I want. I want to savor my magic bean potion instead of gulping it, walk outside instead of staring through the window, read another chapter, light the candle, play the music, take the drive, try the recipe and watch the silly movie.

I want to talk to my gods and goddesses, remember my ancestors, laugh with Ronnie, love on the animals, write the story and occasionally stop long enough to look around and think, This is my life. And I’m here for it.

So tell me, my lovelies: What do you want October to feel like? Not what do you need to accomplish or what’s sitting on your to-do list. How do you actually want to feel while you’re living it?

And while you’re down there in the comments, I have assignments. 😂 

Tell me what’s in your morning cup, give me a song for our October playlist, and tell me one fun thing you’re looking forward to this month.

As for me? I’m going to pour another cup of magic bean potion and see what October has waiting for me.

Until next time, keep noticing the little things, making ordinary days your own, and finding a little magic wherever you can.

Live vividly, love deeply, and don’t forget to have some damn fun along the way. ❤️