September
It's time for school buses 🚍, personal check-ins ✔, and new music 🎵
It’s the start of another school year. Do you have kids in school? Or perhaps you have gone back to school yourself?
September is, for me, still the start of the year in many respects. Sure, January is the actual start of the new year and all, but in the rhythm of my life, it’s always been September. Even now, many years removed from the fall-winter-spring routine of formal schooling, it’s still in me. While I’m generally reluctant to bid summer adieu, I do get excited for fall eventually — and all that it has in store.
This week we discuss school buses, September as an ideal time for a personal check-in, share a little milestone, and some new music. Thank you for being here!
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🚍 The school bus
My mom always loved yellow school buses and all that they represented to her.
Me, less so. I remember the morning rush to get to the bus stop before the bus came. How cold it was sometimes. How once in elementary school another kid wouldn’t leave me alone and scratched my hand so badly that I still have a scar to this day.
In middle school, I missed the bus a lot and my parents drove me to school. When I did ride the bus, I usually sat with one of my neighbor friends. By high school, it was uncool to ride the school bus. But we still did most days. We would often put our knees up against the seat in front of us and slouch down a bit. We were one of the last stops on our route.
Looking back, I have fond memories of our many conversations on the way home from school. There is a benefit to having a daily touchpoint with someone. Maybe it’s on your commute or a lunch-time walk or a workout buddy at the gym. It may be different for each of us, but I believe it’s important to have.
✔ The check-in
As September gets underway, it’s a good time to check-in with yourself and see how you are doing in each area of your life. What’s working well? What’s not? Where might you want to focus some more energy (health, family, friends, career, personal growth, …).
has some helpful ideas in the most recent issue of . I encourage you to give it a read:
Did you have an a-ha like this boy? If so, we’d love to hear it. What is something you’d like to focus on this fall? How can we be a source of encouragement for you?
Maybe you’d like to start your own Substack. You can. Right here. For free.
📔 The milestone
This week we achieved another milestone. We now have readers in over half of the United States! It’s been fun to watch the map fill in one by one and I’m so grateful for each of you joining me on this journey.
If you know someone you think would enjoy
, please consider inviting them to join us. Bonus points if they happen to live in one of these states (which would help to connect the map):New Mexico
Mississippi
Alabama
North Carolina
Missouri
West Virginia
(I’m even more in awe of our readers around the world in 18 countries from Australia to Columbia to Egypt to India to the United Kingdom. Thank you for joining me on this journey!)
🎧 The media embed
💿 Songs You Don’t Know By Heart by Jimmy Buffett
After I wrote last week’s issue on Jimmy Buffett, I came across this Note on Substack:
Somehow this album release escaped my notice during the pandemic and I’d never listened to it before. On the recommendation of
, I’ve been listening to it as I wrote today’s issue and quite enjoyed it on the first listen. You may as well.It’s a quieter, more mellow, folky sound. Here’s the album.
I’ve switched to using Spotify for my music embeds as it seems to provide the best user experience. As always, I welcome your feedback.
I hope your September is off to a good start. May this be your best fall yet!
Be well,
-Bryce
I couldn't agree more with your sentiment about September being a fresh start, even for those of us no longer in the formal school routine. It's a great time to reflect, reevaluate, and set new goals for the months ahead. I appreciate the reminder to check in with ourselves and take stock of different aspects of our lives. Thanks for sharing this thoughtful post!