Summer, for me, is a season of rest, of adventure, of play. A season to find joy in being. Being still. Being quiet. Being spontaneous. Being (mostly) free of a to-do list.
Practically, summer is dictated by the stage of life that being a single mom of a pre-teen brings with it (fewer day camps, more engagement to make sure our brains aren't rotting away on social media.)
And intentionally, the slower pace of summer is invited as I've learned this creative life I've chosen needs a moment that focuses on gathering rather than measuring output.
A season that fills my cup, shakes my routine and brings new inspiration and ideas to light.
A season that asks nothing more than my presence. Presence with my daughter while we explore the beach and canyons surrounding our chosen home for the summer. Presence with my body to walk, to wander, to sleep, to nourish. Presence with my creative practice to write more, paint less, to read more, consume less.
Peace with my thoughts as they pull hard back to the life of busy-ness and productivity I've known most of my life.
You see, I'm hard-wired for productivity. Measuring success by what I've accomplished - a title, an accolade, a number. It served me well for most of my life - until it didn't. Tired of being tired all the time, of the gnawing anxious thoughts inside my head, at the feeling of missing out on something - I consciously made a shift to slow down. Slow down work, slow down commitments, slow down our life.
Since then, these past 5+ years of days, have been about a re-wiring. A system reboot. An overhaul.
A shift, instead, to measure my days in ease. In joy. In how my body feels. How quiet my mind gets. How easily I connect to my people. My intuition. My creativity.
I am learning, each day, how to do this better and better. Here's a few things helping me this summer to shift into BEING instead of DOING.
- Walks in nature.
- Reading. For pleasure.
- Ocean swims and soaks and floats.
- Mimicking the sun. Rest when she rests, rise when she rises.
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Sitting each day. No device, no book, no to-do. Just a sit.
Tell me your best tips for summer living!
