2026 Fall Homeland | Editorial: For their own sake 

The shift that comes with fall represents more than a changing of the seasons for me.  

Summers are generally packed full of activities for my family: brandings, rodeos, riding horses, traveling, and the like. Fall brings that welcome cool air and a chance to walk a little slower through life. 

Sometimes, in the hustle and bustle, we forget to do the things that make us most human. We’re chasing kids, running errands, working numerous jobs and attempting to keep all the proverbial irons hot. 

I actually appreciate living where there are four seasons, because the external changes in the weather force me reflect internally on what really matters in life. Achievement is great, and there is nothing wrong with striving and hustling for certain seasons. But in that ebb and flow of life, we must occasionally resurface and remind ourselves why we’re really here.  

It isn’t to work, pay bills and die.  

Josef Pieper’s book, Leisure: The basis of culture, deals with the issue that modern society has lost the ability to participate in leisure. So few people do activities just for the simple pleasure of doing them. We used to call this recreation (literally, to re-create the human spirit).  

Think about it. How many of us actually have hobbies that we do for simple enjoyment? And I don’t mean ones that we have monetized for a “side hustle.” True leisure. Walking in nature, singing at the piano, painting, fishing, knitting, woodworking, and the list goes on.  

Many of us get the ideal exactly flipped. We aren’t meant to work in order to rest; we are meant to rest in order to work. Leisure, though technically considered “action,” is incredibly restful for the mind and body.  

This fall, I fully intend to do more of the hobbies I enjoy for their own sake.