Summer Musings
As a school teacher, unlike many of my friends/ family members in the private sector, corporate America if you will, I have been gifted with summer break. I share this time and (public pool spaces) with every child in America as well as the stay at home moms and dads (RESPECT), my fellow educators (shout out to y’all, you know who you are), and other people that have flexible schedules. This summer I took a break from work and did not move to a new city (mostly because I am tired of buying a new bed every year). I want to share some of my takeaways and joys from this kind of experience. Take what you will, or don’t, always do what serves you, OK!! If you have questions about how you too can get a summer break please reach out. I will probably kindly/vaguely/ indirectly tell you that public education is “cool” but you should maybe consider staying away from it.
** Real Talk: It is so important and transformative- knowledge is power baby- just complicated (what isn't though am I right).
1. Chores. Without work on a weekday, the days feel so long and doing productive/ chore like activities is not really a drag. It’s not a weekend so the idea of removing those pesky summer bugs who are trying to sneak into your home and bed, scrubbing out the unknown spots in your refrigerator, or vacuuming behind the couch for the first time in who knows how long is really kind of fun and satisfying. If there is a way to spread out the responsibilities throughout the week (like the way you might peanut butter on your toast mmm), then come Sunday you actually have a fun day. It is not just pieced together moments of laundry, pushing a grocery cart around and crock-potting (or whatever kind of meal prep you do, I don’t know your life). Sunday can be time for good times. That is a joy.
2. Alarms. As a person who relies heavily on an external alarm clock to rise in the early mornings, not setting multiple morning tones is the closest thing to freedom. The ole “I’ll wake up when I wake up” is a real treat. Even if the sun wakes you at 7am and you’ve got places to be, so sleeping in is not a viable option...HEY at least it’s not a harsh sound coming from your smart phone that got you out of those covers and that is a joy.
3. Down Time. There is so much time for the j o y s when you don’t have to go to work work work. How does it seem during the Monday to Friday flow (talking both work and vinyasa obviously) it’s hard to make time for more than one activity in the afternoons let alone feed yourself something that doesn’t come from a can (shout out to tuna fish brands everywhere for feeding me so often). However when your “job” is to “relax” or whatever, that’s exciting... you can read, yoga, run, dabble in letter writing, check out your new neighborhood hot spot, stay up late, say YES. This is something to celebrate not to feel bad for. When you can do more than three things per day, that is a joy.
4. Trips. Visiting new or old places that you love is thrilling but y’all know what the greatest joy is? Who you’re with. Who are those people around you? Do they know how to take cool pictures? Do they have the latest IPhone because you know you need at least one friend who does so you can get your shots. Photography aside, it’s all about who you’re with, not about being in the greatest place. **Not to mention the incredible opportunity for self- reflection that comes from staring out plane windows on trips (or car/train/boat windows)- again do not know your life!!
5. That Summer Feeling. It’s hard to describe in words what the feeling is (it’s like love / the wind you can’t always see it but you can feel it ™- all you lovers know what I mean). It’s like riding a bike with no hands and not crashing, it’s like that first sip of coffee in the morning, it’s like watching a baby turtle find it’s way in the world. This year I feel charged to take that feeling of lightness (from those summer margs), warmth from the sun, and those cute extra freckles (more SPF next summer) and carry it into the year. I want to turn up the tunes of life. Why not tap into that good feeling more often, why must it be reserved for summer months? I understand there are elements such as nature that I can not control (YET) but I can control how I chose to live my life day to day and I want to chose to live it with a lil more of that groovy summer feeling. Maybe weekends are more often for no alarms, no need for Sunday's to be a drag, and remembering to be completely present with your people is the way to be... people > place!
