This post originally appeared in my September 2024 newsletter.
Every time the fall term rolls around, I’m compelled to do several things: start drinking apple cinnamon tea, put up cheesy autumnal decorations, and sharpen a bunch of pencils like I’m Kathleen Kelly in You’ve Got Mail, even though the majority of my “school work” is digital now.
My head is filled with fanciful visions of wearing cute autumnal outfits while strolling through The Big City, clutching my newly purchased pumpkin or a pumpkin spice latte (or a tall, skim, caramel macchiato in Kathleen Kelly’s case). In fact, when I’m not going full goth, my seasonal vibes are straight-up Main Character in a Romantic Comedy. (This is true for the rest of the year, too, especially when I’m teaching my class on romantic comedies like I am this term.)
Sure, I love my spooky stuff, and the way the last third of the year just seems made for cozy gothic vibes. But there’s another part of me that absolutely delights in the nostalgic comfort that can only be described as Autumn in (RomCom) New York. I guess it’s because I’ve watched When Harry Met Sally and You’ve Got Mail on repeat at a formative age. As a teen and early 20-something, these movies were the height of Adult Sophistication, and Meg Ryan was the aspirational working woman with a strong sense of style and a soft warmth that feels almost radical today when so many narratives about women in mainstream media often treat us as flat characters catering to the male gaze.
So often, we are forced into stereotypes of Uptight Boss Ladies, Manic Pixie Dream Girls, or Sexy Vixens. Meg Ryan, instead, portrayed characters who were both competent professionals and women searching for love, confident in who they were and yet only human in their insecurities, strong in their opinions and soft in their care for others. Her characters were, in other words, real women who contained multitudes while also looking autumnally stylish AF. What’s not to love?
As it turns out, I’m not alone in this. I was today years old when I discovered there is such a thing as Meg Ryan Fall. It revolves around her iconic roles in When Harry Met Sally, You’ve Got Mail, and Sleepless in Seattle. These movies capture the seasonal beauty of The Big City, the ephemeral joy of season’s change, and all the cozy things that come with it, like walking through Central Park on an autumn day or attending a neighborhood fall festival, and maybe meeting your soul mate on the Empire State Building or in a rival bookshop. These movies are also very much stories about loving the city you live in, from the neighborhood coffee shop to your local grocery store and, yes, your favorite bookstore.
Although there are valid critiques of Meg Ryan Fall as just being another iteration of White (Christian) Girl Autumn or a way for the internet to further commodify a nostalgia-tinted past, I think the real appeal of Meg Ryan Fall is that it connects us to the “valuable, but small” parts of our lives, all the “nothings” that actually mean something, to poorly quote a few lines from You’ve Got Mail. In other words, the dailiness of life—from checking your inbox to grabbing a cup of coffee—becomes magical when we realize that these tasks and routines that we often take for granted actually bring meaning to our lives. It’s those chance encounters with an old acquaintance that suddenly leads to something more—or the hope for something more that ushers in gentle change.
Just as spooky stories connect us to the hidden parts of ourselves and the universe, Meg Ryan Fall reminds us that life can be soft and romantic. This sentiment feels especially true after the pandemic as I’ve struggled to release the fight-or-flight mode I was in for most of that time and to embrace the fact that life can be cozy and gentle if we let it.
There is nothing I missed more during the pandemic than these mundane “nothings” that I absolutely took for granted before going into lockdown. The weekly trips to the grocery store. Chatting with people as we stand in line at the coffee shop. Bumping into friends at a local restaurant or making new ones. Reading a book on a sidewalk cafe on a sunny autumn afternoon. People watching at the park. These moments connect us to something deeper than ourselves and that never-ending to-do list. They are a reminder of our basic humanity and interconnectedness.
Most of these films were made before the internet really took off and before iPhones were commonplace. You’ve Got Mail signals the dawn of a new technological era in which our communication landscape fundamentally changes. Even then, however, the film has a way of making the World Wide Web feel quaint with its story of secret digital penpals. The Internet is just another cozy neighborhood space where chance encounters can lead to the kind of love that is simply meant to be. Meg Ryan Fall asks—no BEGS—us to put our phones away, slow down, and really be part of our neighborhood. To plug into our lives more than we plug into social media. To be present and aware of the ephemeral joy of the season’s change. To connect, not through dial-up, but through being at home in our small corners of the world.
Yes, the idea of modeling your fall vibes after Meg Ryan’s iconic romantic comedy roles is cheesy. That’s kind of the point. After the trauma and stress of the pandemic and figuring out how to live in a post-pandemic world, Meg Ryan Fall invites us to be a little silly, a little frivolous, and a little playful. Play, I’m learning, is our way of signaling to the universe that we are ready for some unexpected magic. So, this fall, I’m going all in as I relish the autumnal glory of my city and the cozy camaraderie of my local neighborhood haunts.
If you’re looking for a little more enchantment in your autumn, too, I’d encourage you to find a moment or two in your day that makes you feel like Kathleen Kelly walking through her neighborhood on a sunny fall day while the Cranberries croon “Dreams” overhead. Or don your most dapper hat and sweater combo and take a city stroll to leaf peep. See what lighthearted magic comes from it!
Image of Meg Ryan as Kathleen Kelly from You’ve Got Mail walking down a path surrounded by autumnal trees.
Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational collection of musings touching on life’s simple pleasures, everyday fantasy, and absolutely delectable recipes that will guarantee to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is the everyday, subscribe here.
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