I relish the way these mornings feel, the mornings between June and August where the rush is temporarily set aside and my natural creative flow takes the leading role she craves the rest of the year.
I’ve been mothering school-aged children for twenty-five years, so summer is indelibly impressed with “different” much like the “Happy New Year!” is felt more when the school year starts than when the calendar year starts.
My youngest child is hitting high school and it feels slightly surreal yet the “this is different” remains.
Yesterday, for example, I had an appointment in Fresno, two hours from Bakersfield. On the way home, I meandered down a side road in search of a funky restaurant. Even though my destination was closed, I took photos of brave sunflowers and dried up roadsides and reveled in not having to sprint home to be there for the school bus.
Its summer, it’s different!
This morning I woke up, naturally without an alarm clock, before five a.m. I elected to grab my notebook, write, get a cup of coffee brewing and the house stayed quieter much longer. No one was freaking out about last minute class prep or deadlines or what to wear. I heard as my son’s alarm clock went off so he had time to play some video games before his summer school - but he was his usual, quiet, unobtrusive self and gave me plenty of room to savor the near silence.
Its summer, it’s different!
My to-do list continues to be long. I have some major goals to accomplish as I angle toward September, significant in the weighty-transition and almost empty-nest realization it will bring with it. Even that feels less dense than it did yesterday. I realize I choose how to perceive it. I decide what lenses to look through. I am responsible and privileged to make these moments of summer what they are and what they mean to me.
Its summer, it’s different!
Most of all, in summer I am different. My shoulders are less like earrings and more like a soft, cashmere stole. My feet aren’t bundled, they are bare. My schedule has a different tune, a melodiousness more in the soprano range than bass.
- Release your business-as-usual norms. What rigidity can you let go of in the week to come so that you can relax more, enjoy the moment more?
- This morning I took less than five minutes to splatter paint on three index cards. These splatters say, “Yes, you do have space to create.” I had to take that space, though. I had to take action. What will you do? What tiny moments of creativity can you slice out of your summer day?
- You may have appointments come up and to-do list items to check off. Here’s where I have found the most pure, lasting joy: taking those check-lists and embracing the delight in the doing by finding mini-adventures along the way. We’ve heard the cliché, “It isn’t the destination, it is the journey.” Start simple - take a different route to your next appointment. Keep your eyes open and your heart aware for the sights, scents and sounds of your new map. Document and delight. I am smiling just thinking about you doing this!
Its summer, it’s different!
Julie Jordan Scott inspires people to experience artistic rebirth via her programs, playshops, books, performances and simply being herself out in the world. She is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy-extraordinaire and mixed-media artist whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming in Spring, 2015 and beyond.
To contact Julie to schedule a Writing or Creative Life Coaching Session, call or text her at 661.444.2735.
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