Hello, October: Let the Pink Mean Something | Breast Cancer Awareness Month 🎀🍂

October has arrived.

The month when the air finally starts changing, the blankets migrate back to the couch, and somehow every cup of coffee tastes a little better just because there are leaves on the ground.

It’s pumpkins on porches. Candles burning way too early in the day. Hoodies pulled from the back of the closet. Windows cracked open just enough to let that cool air sneak in.

October feels like permission to slow down a little.

And if you know me, you already know I am completely here for all of it.

But October wears another color besides orange.

October wears pink. 🎀

And that pink carries stories.

October wears another color besides orange. October wears pink. 🎀🍂

Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Behind Every Pink Ribbon Is a Person

Breast Cancer Awareness Month comes around every October, and it can be easy to become accustomed to seeing the pink ribbons everywhere.

They’re on shirts. Store displays. Football fields. Social media posts. Products. Signs.

But behind every one of those ribbons is something much more important than a color.

There is a woman sitting in a waiting room trying not to imagine the worst.

There is someone hearing the word cancer for the first time.

There is a family learning a whole new vocabulary they never wanted to know.

There is someone finishing treatment.

Someone beginning it.

Someone celebrating another year cancer-free.

Someone learning how to love a body that looks different now.

And somewhere, there is a family missing someone who should still be sitting at their table.

Those are the reasons the pink matters.

We Can Love Fall and Still Make Room for What Matters

I don't think October has to be one thing.

We can be ridiculously excited about pumpkin patches and Halloween movies while also remembering that this month represents something incredibly real for millions of people.

We can decorate our porches.

Drink the overpriced fall coffee.

Buy another blanket we absolutely did not need.

(No judgment here. I support unnecessary blanket purchases.)

And we can still stop long enough to check on ourselves and the people we love.

Maybe that is what I want October to mean around here this year.

Not fear.

Not sadness.

Awareness.

The kind that makes us pay attention instead of assuming something could never happen to us.

The kind that reminds us that taking care of everyone else doesn't mean we're allowed to forget ourselves.

Because women are really good at that, aren't we?

We remember appointments, birthdays, grocery lists, bills, what everybody likes for dinner, who needs what and approximately 947 other things running through our brains at any given moment.

Then somehow our own needs get shoved somewhere between I'll do it later and I'm fine.

So, here's your October reminder:

You matter enough to take care of, too.

Behind every pink ribbon is a person, a family and a story. 🎀

Let the Pink Mean Something

If you're going to wear pink this month, let it be more than a color.

Let it remind you to pay attention to your body.

Let it remind you to keep up with the screenings recommended for you.

Let it remind you to ask questions when something doesn't feel right.

Let it remind you to check on your mom, your sister, your daughter, your best friend—or the woman who is always so busy taking care of everybody else that nobody thinks to ask how she is doing.

Let it remind you to show up for the person going through treatment even when you don't know exactly what to say.

Sometimes support doesn't need a perfect speech.

Sometimes its dinner dropped at the door.

A ride.

A text.

Sitting beside someone.

Remembering an appointment.

Listening without trying to fix anything.

Sometimes it's simply saying:

I'm here.

For the Fighters, the Survivors and the Ones We Remember

This October, Beautifully Overwhelmed is making room for all of it.

For the women fighting like hell.

For the survivors carrying stories the rest of us may never completely understand.

For the people waiting on answers.

For the caregivers trying to stay strong.

For the families who have walked this road beside someone they love.

And for the beautiful souls represented by pink ribbons worn in memory instead of celebration.

We see you.

We honor you.

And we remember why this month matters.

Hello, October

So yes, October…

Bring us your changing leaves.

Bring us the crisp mornings, oversized hoodies, spooky movies, warm drinks and porches covered in pumpkins.

Bring us the cozy.

But bring us something deeper, too.

A reason to pay attention.

A reason to check on each other.

A reason to stop putting ourselves at the very bottom of our own lists.

And when we see pink ribbons scattered among all those orange leaves this month, let them remind us that awareness isn't supposed to end with a ribbon.

Let the pink mean something. 🎀

Here's to a softer October.

A more aware October.

An October filled with stronger women, louder support, more conversations, earlier action, and hope for brighter tomorrows.

Welcome, October. 🍂🩷

We're ready for you.

Beautifully overwhelmed and still showing up. ♡

Let the pink mean something. 🎀