Squawk Radio

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Liz on Her Favorite Season

We’re having a nice cool morning here today, something that reinforces how fall is just around the corner. I love fall. It’s my absolute favorite season. It’s when all the best holidays happen, including my birthday and my anniversary. It means back-to-school, which I loved even as a child, and the gorgeous color changes on the trees. It means I get to pull out all my favorite fashion items--sweaters, hiking boots, flannel shirts and leather jackets--and it means fires in the fireplace inside and the chimnea outside. (I confess, I’m a bit of a pyro.) But I think the thing I love most about fall is the change it symbolizes. Change is indeed good. And fall, even more than spring, makes me feel like renewal is at hand. Not because things are beginning. But because they’re ending. And there’s something kind of comforting about that.

Beginnings can be exciting and exhilarting thanks to their wide open potential for ANYTHING to happen. But they can be scary, too, because there is so much potential for ANYTHING to happen. I’m a security freak. And, okay, a control freak. I like to know what’s going to happen, when it’s going to happen, and how it’s going to happen. And I want to know it WAY before it actually happens. Of course, that’s impossible, even when I’ve planned something down to the last detail. There’s always stuff that can go wrong--and usually does. And I’m not good at changing gears quickly. Much of life is adjusting to the unexpected. Those who can think quickly generally do fine. But those of us who want to look at every angle of a situation before acting can have a bumpier time of it.

“Once upon a time” is a phrase that can lead to an infinite number of outcomes. But an outcome itself is only one thing. Even though I love starting a new book, writing the equivalent of “Once upon a time” can make me twitchy and terrified, because I know I have so much to do and think and say after I write it. Writing “The End,” on the other hand, fills me with euphoria and a giddy sense of peace. It is final. It is immutable. It is DONE. (Until revisions. But even those come to an end. Eventually.)

I like it when things end. Even good things. I like resolution. I like it when everything finally plays out, especially if it plays out the way it’s supposed to. That’s probably why I love books and movies so much. It’s probably one of the reasons I became a writer. And it’s why I love fall. The year is ending, but I know there will be another one after it. Another one filled with the potential for ANYTHING to happen. One thing, though, will be a given next year. At the end, there will be another glorious fall. And by the time that fall arrives, I will have completed so many projects, both professional and personal. And with every project completed, I’ll be a little more complete myself.

So what’s YOUR favorite season? Why? What are you looking forward to between now and the the end of the year? And what do you like better: beginnings or endings?
Elizabeth Bevarly, 9:39 AM
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