My son says I am pumpkin “obsessed”.

That weekend that I came home with a pumpkin to display, a six pack of America’s Original Pumpkin Ale by Buffalo Bill’s Brewery, and ingredients to continue my quest to make the best pumpkin pie.

Obsessed? Perhaps.

As soon as the calendar turns to September, I crave pumpkin delicacies of all sorts. Pumpkin muffins and bread, pumpkin pie, and pumpkin ravioli.

One of our favorite restaurants has a delectable pumpkin pie with a graham cracker crust that is only available for about 6 weeks in the fall.

I also love the look of pumpkins that come in a range of sizes and colors, each with their own personality.

I’m not sure if it’s my love of fall with the colors and briskness in the air or the fact that pumpkins are only available a couple months of the year but there is something about them that simply delights me. So, I go with it.

My tip of the month to you is that if something delights you, go with it.

When you find things that delight you, it is not something to ignore.

Delight will also give you clues to answering questions about yourself.

And as you see in the picture above, I’ve put the six pack container to use and filled it with bottles of orange and red flowers, the last of our summer flowers beginning to fade. The fun black cat is a papier mache pen made by Johanna Parker, an artist who specializes in Halloween and Holiday collectibles.

By the way, my son said the pumpkin pie I made was the best one yet.

I don’t know about you, but I can never get too much inspiration.

I think we all need to have our dreams and aspirations reaffirmed because it can be way too easy to come up with reasons that lead you away.

You are too busy.
You don’t know enough.
You can’t compete with what is already out there.
Who are you to think you can do it.
Oh, it’s just a silly idea.

The harder road is to keep going. Keep plugging away, even when you aren’t sure where it’s going. Even when you don’t know what you are doing.

Because your heart tugs at you to be yourself, to do things your own way. You would think that is easy but it’s not.

We are all so conditioned to compare ourselves and to think we aren’t enough.

I found this video on U-tube through Kelly Rae Roberts, a talented mixed media artist.

Kelly Corrigan, best selling author of Lift and The Middle Place has these inspiring words for all of us. Take 4 minutes to be inspired today.

How can you build creative confidence? What will help you to put your best foot forward?

Can pretending really help give you more confidence?

Remember how easy it was when you were a kid to make believe you were a super hero or a princess or maybe even a dinosaur?

It never failed to bring smiles to people around us when my son between the ages of 4 and 7 years old insisted on wearing his green dinosaur costume with a scaled two foot long tail every where we went. He proudly wore his costume even when he could barely zip it, the knees were worn out, and the legs were 4” short. He was a dinosaur.

Powerful Pretending

There is something powerful about pretending that can often begin to feel natural.

I saw the last ten minutes of Dancing with the Stars the other night. The celebrities were talking about how nervous they were they go live on stage to dance.

Even seasoned performers who are used to being on stage, in front of large audiences, feel anxious and jittery.

They take a deep breath, put on a smile and act as if they are confident and having fun despite the terror they feel.

Many of them said after a few moments they were able to get into the dance and their smiles became real.

“I have often been afraid, but I wouldn’t give in to it. I made myself act as though I was not afraid, and gradually my fear disappeared.” Theodore Roosevelt

Costume Optional

You don’t have to wear a costume to transform yourself. Think about how your body changes when you are feeling confident.

What could you do as a signal to yourself to act as if you are confident?

You might stand straight, smile, and relax your shoulders.

You could roll up your sleeves as a gesture of being ready to act.

You might wear a particular outfit, sweater, jewelry or hat.

Now get ready to make that phone call, speak in front of a group, write your book, or maybe dance with the stars!