Autumn in the Cotswolds | My Slow and Quiet Life in the English Countryside 🍁

I have called this beautiful region of England my home my entire life. As autumn arrives in the Cotswolds a new chapter begins in the English countryside. The orange and golden foliage that emerges all around encases the region in October and brings with it a crisp bite in the air as the darker months begin. All of a sudden the winter jackets come out and the t-shirt weather of the summer becomes a distant memory. But there is a charm in the towns and villages at this time of year. Fewer tourists and colder weather bring a unique atmosphere during this short seasonal window. A still serene and reflective quietness. When I'm not working I like to go on long walks in the countryside. I follow the rural footpaths that wind through the Cotswolds visiting picturesque villages and enjoying their charm. It's true that sunny days are rare in October but when they do come it makes them all the more special. It's days like this that are perfect to go on a walk with my camera. I work part-time in a plant nursery just three days a week to support myself while I pursue my goal of building a video production business. Every autumn the nursery holds a pumpkin hunt for children and the entire business is transformed into a pumpkin emporium. Working here has truly helped me to understand the cyclical process of the seasons. I watch the seasonal change in motion as the pumpkins arrive for Halloween and the aces turn orange in October. Earlier this year I fell into a state of chronic exhaustion and burnout. I pushed myself too hard with my work and had tethered my sense of achievement to metrics, forgetting to celebrate small wins and not allowing myself to enjoy the flow of day-to-day life. I had always perceived burnout to be a temporary period of indifference to a subject or pursuit after a long period of hard work and I had not considered that failing to recognise signs of exhaustion would ultimately grind my project to a temporary but complete halt. As I begin to relaunch my work this autumn I feel I've learned my limits and the importance of rest and recovery. It feels like only yesterday that high summer was all around, birds singing, the searing afternoon heat, the deep greens of the southern countryside, but that has since gone. This is the view from my attic, really see the autumn colours from up here, under construction. For an unbeknown reason the construction process was abandoned for several years midway through. My friends and I used to explore the building site and all its abandoned machinery and venture into the half-built frame of the building itself at night. Nearly a decade later my friends have all moved away and the house is fully complete and lived in. It won't be long until the trees have shed their final leaves and the bright oranges of today will turn to rust tomorrow. It's important to appreciate this fleeting time, it represents an opportunity for a fresh beginning and the birth of something new.