Fall is my favorite season, and for me the season really kicks off every year with the Mid-Autumn (Moon) Festival. My mom usually sends us mooncakes, with the most delicious fillings. My favorite is the red bean mochi egg yolk, which looks like a full moon when you cut it open.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is typically celebrated by family and friends getting together to feast and eat mooncakes, gaze at the full moon, and express gratitude for the abundance of the harvest. It’s one of the smaller Chinese holidays but one of my favorites.
Fall is the season with my favorite weather, my favorite clothes, and the anticipation of my favorite holidays without the actual work of the holidays. I love the fresh start feeling of back to school and setting up routines. In the past couple of years I have harnessed this energy to really lean into eating healthy, making gains in my fitness and strength, and just generally getting after it.
This year, coming into this season has been tough for me. The job hunt is taking a toll on my mental health. Going down the sinkhole of LinkedIn job postings and getting constant rejections is feeding the monster of my insecurities, feeding the narrative that I gave up my career when I took a pause for motherhood. The job market is tough right now, with layoffs putting many qualified candidates into the pool. Maybe this is just not the season for me to be looking for a job. I just need a mental break. My time and energy is precious and this season is special.