Autumn State of Mind
A Love Letter to the Seasonal Vibe
The Pop Culture Cold Brew is a collection of pop culture adjacency news that’s sincerely piqued our interest with frivolous diversions during these wildly unprecedented times— only without the celebrity worship culture. The Cold Brew also comes with a side of candor in critique pieces on pop culture and societal mores; get into it below, like last week’s Met Gala:
Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) to his pen pal, Shopgirl/Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan): “Don’t you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.”
Perhaps it’s the thrilling nostalgic feeling of taking my nieces shopping for school supplies, which was always my favorite as a kid, and obvious hindsight should’ve been a warning that writing was always my first great love. Yet despite my apparent sunny disposition of having a bright June birthday, autumn’s always been my favorite time of the year.
Following a cataclysmic year, it’s been challenging to continue living life and finding any normalcy; or moments of deserved happiness or pleasure. Nevertheless, autumn usually symbolizes a regenerative transition.
After all, it’s a dusky closing of the previous summery season as the greenery develops into a beautiful golden antique tapestry of contrasting yellow, orange, and red splashes. It’s always captivating to witness— much less experience. It gives almost silent wisdom and hope for a new beginning as the juxtaposed colors remind us that just because the leaves change or entirely fall doesn’t mean the tree isn’t alive. Recharging is necessary, and I fully embrace it, particularly given our current climate-change-threatened world of social-economic injustice, so wherever the seasonal pumpkin spice falls on your taste scale is your business. I’m more enchanted with the seemingly magical moment that ushers in more than just fresh, crisp weather. Perhaps this is why my anxious/depressive brain calms down during this seasonal change, and my fight or flight isn’t as reactive; I’m too busy staring outside at the trees seemingly glowing from their incandescence.
The autumnal sensory is pleasing and positive because we’re allowing ourselves to not only pause but appreciate nature’s beauty around us in some noticeable way. As an adult, I’ve learned that this is a mindful exercise I’ve unknowingly practiced since I was a kid, except taking time to appreciate the almost honeyed lens of autumn with its golden aura has become more meditative.
So in honor of my favorite season, I collected any homey and cozy musical feeling of the autumnal season towards my new favorite playlist below.
🍁 For Apple Music users, here.
As an additional bonus, I put together an accompanying film list of my personal favorites from childhood and beyond my twenties— for an autumnal vibe in honor of my favorite season via Letterboxd.
Jumanji
Election
Rushmore
Mermaids
Knives Out
Little Women
Far From Heaven
The Royal Tenenbaums
If Beale Street Could Talk
Sweet Home Alabama
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Dead Poets Society
Mona Lisa Smile
Sleepy Hollow
October Sky
Stepmom
Rudy
📖 Youthquake’s Favorite Literary Quotes about Autumn
When I was younger, books were another great love of mine. No writer made me fall in love with the autumnal season like the ones listed below. Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women had me daydreaming of living in New England from a young age, but I’ll keep referring back to some of my favorite quotes until that happens someday.
“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” ―F. Scott Fitzgerald
“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” ― L. M. Montgomery
“My sorrow, when she's here with me, thinks these dark days of autumn rain are beautiful as days can be; she loves the bare, the withered tree; she walks the sodden pasture lane.” —Robert Frost
“Love is a flower that grows in any soil, works its sweet miracles undaunted by autumn frost or winter snow, blooming fair and fragrant all the year, and blessing those who give and those who receive.” ― Louisa May Alcott
“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.” —Emily Bronte
