Making Your Own Summer
Yes, it’s official! summer 
is here!
The Summer Solstice on Thursday, June 21, was the day of the greatest light (with fourteen to sixteen hours of daytime, even if the sun was hidden by the clouds and rain here in our Walla Walla Valley!) Our whole planet was turned fully to the brilliance of the sun.
A millennium of celebrations were marked by this year’s gathering at the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge, near Salisbury in England, built in 3000BC to 2000BC. There were an estimated 20,000 New Age and Neo Pagan folks there partying Wednesday night and awaiting the sunrise of Thursday.
And they evidently had a great time!
Are YOU celebrating the arrival of summer?
Do you see it as the opportunity to take a deep breath, make some refreshing changes, rebuild some joy into your life?
As Wayne Muller said in his thought-provoking book Sabbath,
“God does not want us to be exhausted; God wants us to be happy.”
The June/July/August season does feel separate from the rest of the year. I guess it’s because many of us operate by habit on a school year calendar.
A thought out of left field!
I’m thinking of a childhood snow day. Remember in the winter waking up and turning on the radio to see if school was going to be closed? And when it was, it was a free day, completely unplanned, in which we could do whatever we wanted, a gift!
As adults we need to create some time for unplanned and unexpected events as a gift to ourselves.
So Create it! Plan it!
Pick a time, write it in your appointment calendar; then just take off. After all, it’s an appointment!
Everyone makes their own summer. Unless one is a farmer with a professional concern for the weather, you can choose what you want your summer to be!
After all, nothing stands still. Wednesday the sun was reaching this point. Today it is beginning a new phase of its cycle, and thus of yours! Remember that the cycles of your existence have an upside and a down side, a high and a low, a zenith and a nadir. One day the day far surpasses the night and then night gradually begins to reassert itself.
Yesterday, it was still reaching this point; tomorrow, it will begin a new phase of its cycle. All of life is cycles. All of life is balance. And this is a reminder to each of us to take the time to enjoy this moment.
So how do you plan to “make your own summer?”
What will give you the feeling of summer in your life?
Give it some thought!
Your time, including summertime, passes quickly!
4 Comments
When spending time in your head – think of fun times, remember the special moments in your life. Time passes quickly when you concentrate on remembering. Now take those great times and plan for another one this summer. We have planned a trip to visit family at the Oregon coast and do the usual fun stuff – brings smiles to think about it. Another “smile causer” is another family gathering being planned several weeks for a trip to Hawaii. Concentrate on the good stuff, forget the bad. Look around to find things to get you out and have a good time – as the Chamber Music Festival. Try something different, add something different to your life. You may be surprised how good you will feel. Get out and surprise yourself.
Earl B.
Earl, I agree that planning great times creates a lot of joy in their anticipation as well as in the actual events themselves! Double the fun! It sounds like you are “planning” a great summer!
There’s an odd thing that happens for me when there’s so much unstructured time. Now that I’m retired, my time is my own, to do with as I will. But…..without structure I tend to waste an awful lot of it. I may look up at the clock at 4pm and wonder where on earth my day went. What did I do during that entire day? Now I’m trying to just pick a project – any project – set the timer for an hour and go for it. Then decide what to do next: reset it and continue, start a different thing….whatever. Always doing the choice thing at one hour intervals. It sort of works. Sometimes.
As for the overall view of summer – a trip with you! Whee! I love looking forward to outings and fun things so try to put several on the calendar well in advance.
Fay, I agree that it’s fun to plan outings and activities to anticipate! Almost as much fun as doing them!