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September 30, 2024 11 mins

In this episode Lori shares some of her favorite activities for engaging with autumn. These ideas highlight some of the best of what autumn has to offer. Plus! visit the show notes page for Lori's delicious chili recipe. 

Whether you partake in these ideas or they spark new ideas, the goal is to fill your cup so you can create some new art.

Visit thepoetrylab.com to find the Show Notes for this episode. The Poetry Lab Podcast is produced by Lori Walker and Danielle Mitchell. Hosted by Danielle Mitchell, Lori Walker, and bridgette bianca. 

Theme song: "Simply Upbeat" by Christian Telford, Kenneth Edward Belcher, and Saki Furuya.

 

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):


(00:00):
the leaves are changing colors and falling
to the ground creating rich piles to jump in
you wake up and there's a crispness to the
morning air
the world seems to breathe a sigh of relief
from the warmth of summer
that's right it's fall
today on the poetry lab podcast i'm sharing
ways you can fill your creative cup this

(00:20):
autumn whether you use these ideas exactly
or let them springboard you into something
else i think you'll leave this episode
feeling renewed and ready to create are you
ready poet let's go
welcome to the poetry lab podcast

(00:42):
the poetry lab started 11 years ago to help
dedicated self taught and formally trained
riders find a place in their community to write
read learn
and collaborate
we help riders tap into their craft with
radical self compassion unlike anything
you've ever seen in a creative writing

(01:03):
classroom before if you're a creative
person trying to establish a writing
practice in the real world
this podcast is designed to help you carve
out the time the courage and an inspiration
to keep writing your new shit
are you ready poet
let's get into it

(01:29):
welcome to your listeners to another
episode of the poetry lab
podcast i'm laurie walker and today i'll be
sharing some ways for you to fill your cup
this autumn
this is the second episode in this series and
i've gotta say autumn is tied with spring
as my second favorite season i am a summer

(01:50):
gal at heart and winter is like 100ths on
my list of favorite seasons so this episode
is full of fun ideas for making the most
out of autumn
hopefully these ideas will leave you
feeling renewed refreshed energized and
inspired to write some new shit while
you're at it

(02:12):
before we get into those ideas i want to do
a quick little recap about this series in
case you missed the earlier episode about
summer i believe there is a lot of beauty
out in the world and that we should engage
with it i believe each season provides us
with a whole new set of ways to explore and
make the most out of it
and the idea for the series

(02:34):
sprang in part from julia cameron's artist
dates which she explores in great detail in
the artist's way
by putting it fixing pleat
cameron defines an artist date as a block
of time specifically set aside and
committed to nurturing your creative
consciousness it is a date that you take

(02:54):
yourself and your creative mind on
a solo outing
and it gets you out of your creative space
and out into the world it gets you out of
your comfort zone and interacting with the
world in some way
now the other part of this idea is to
partake in the local seasonal delights that your

(03:16):
world has to offer
i know that we're listening to this episode
from a variety of places and not everyone
is going to have the same options available
so i encourage you to use these ideas as a
jumping off point and adapt them to what is
available to you geographically and
financially even though i have tried to

(03:38):
keep these ideas free or inexpensive
or also
just even temporally like how much time you
have available to do these
alright let's fill that cup
making chili is an easy transition into
fall for me i have a fantastic chili recipe

(03:59):
that i've developed over the years and i
can throw it all together in my crock pot
in the morning and then the house starts to
smell good a couple of hours later
and the best part of chili in my opinion is
leftover chili
so after the ingredients have gotten to
have a bit of a party in the fridge i like
to heat up the chili and serve it over

(04:19):
noodles for what's called three way chili
at least in oklahoma and i'm gonna stick
with the food theme for a little bit so
that i can just get myself fully hungry and
then move on as opposed to keep circling
back to it
fall autumn is also the start of soup
season so whatever soups you like
go for it cook them

(04:40):
apples are really hot this time of year and
maybe you live near a place where you can
pick apples
or you can buy a big ol bag of apples and
make a pie or
caramel apples or just eat the apples while
they're fresh and in season
speaking of buying a big ol bag of apples
head up your local farmer's market as the

(05:01):
seasons change so do the offerings at the
farmer's market
and then you can plan a meal based around
what you find
well you can even make it a potluck and
invite your friends to make their own
seasonal creation to share together
the pumpkin patch is always a big hit this
time of year
you can of course carve the pumpkins for

(05:23):
jack o' lanterns or you can decorate them
into a nice little fall tableau
my mom
will buy pumpkins and gourds in various
colors i have no idea that there were so
many colors of pumpkins but there's like
white and green and obviously the orange

(05:44):
and just all kinds of colors
and she will decorate the inside of her
house with them and that shit will last for months
if you do carve pumpkins you can roast the
seeds for a nice little snack or a topping
for your morning oatmeal
personally my flavor
profile tends to change
as we hit fall i crave more cinnamons and

(06:06):
nutmegs so i wind up ordering a lot of chai lattes
and i also make them super dirty with like
three shots of espresso
related another drink you can make you can
make mold wine or
sider and then sip a thermos of it outside
on your porch
or while walking around and enjoying the
fall colors
i think that about covers the food side of

(06:28):
things so i'm going to move on
speaking of the colors autumn is a great
time to go leafing and i think that's
actually a word
if it's not we're just gonna pretend like it is
in autumn it's
finally cool enough at least where i am to start

(06:50):
going on walks outdoors
again so you can just walk around your
neighborhood and notice the changing colors
of the leaves
another option for the leaves in grad
school one of the gals that i went to class
with she loved crunching through the leaves
on campus in her goloshes
and the third option is that you could rake
up the leaves and then jump in them like

(07:13):
you did when you're a little good
exercise a chore and some play all rolled
into one
basically autumn is a good time to spend
outdoors the weather is cooler and it's
kind of like a last chance to be outdoors
before you're buried alive in winter
so maybe think about going on a camping

(07:33):
trip or a horseback ride or reading or
watching a movie outdoors
if you have the ability you can get one of
those little fire pet things those are a
blast to set around
day or night as it gets cooler
you can be alone with your thoughts
observing nature perhaps writing or reading

(07:55):
maybe burning some shitty old drafts of
something or just burning something to
symbolically release it
or you can have your friends your partners
and or your family join you for
conversation games and s'mores
also outdoors you can do yoga outdoors and
i almost forgot that one but it is

(08:15):
one of the things that i love doing getting
up in the morning and doing some yoga
outside in nature
that's
i love it
and then i'm also gonna go ahead and
address the big pink dragon in the room
spooky season
it's not my thing but i know it is for a
lot of people and there are tons of haunted
events that you can visit

(08:37):
scary movie nights you can plan etc
it could be a fun time to break out the
ouija board or the tarot cards and engage
with the spirits this part of spooky season
i do enjoy
and then octoberfest is also very popular
in the fall and many places have some sort
of octoberfest celebration
that just celebrates all things german

(09:00):
german beer german food
or maybe it's more like called octoberfest
because it occurs in october but there's
just like regular beer and carnival food
either way
and
speaking of octoberfest there's lots of
different fall festivals that people have
and i tend to see a lot more craft bears

(09:20):
during the fall so those are all fun things
to hit up
you don't necessarily have to buy things
but you can and you can just sort of walk
around and observe
circling back to pumpkin patches
many of those have a corn maze attached to
them or maybe a hayride option that could
be something to do especially if you've got

(09:40):
kiddos around
and then the final thing when you do sit
down to write
this would be a perfect time to break out a
false scented candle
i must admit i do feel a little something
extra when i light a candle while i write
but i just super avoid candles during the summer

(10:00):
because
i don't need to add more heat
but maybe i'll get some fall candles for
this year though
there we go some of my favorite ways to
fill your cup this autumn
just like with the summer episode i'm sure
that as soon as i hit end
record i'll get
10 more activities in my mind that i forgot

(10:22):
to mention
but that's just the way it goes
i need to remember to write them down so
that way i've got material for next autumn right
whether you love autumn or not i hope these
activities spark your own ideas for
engaging with the season and filling your
cup and in turn helping you write some new shit

(10:44):
if you liked this episode please give us a
like and a follow and help us spread the
word about our podcast by texting the link
to a few creative friends
you can also find us at the poetrylab com
podcast
again i'm laurie walker and you can find me
on instagram
lauriethrewriter or peruse my website

(11:05):
atloreewrightswords com
i'm also in the process of setting up a
substack and i will link to that on my
website when it's ready
that's all for now i'll catch you soon at
the poetry lab
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