Summer Days

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water,

or watching the clouds float across the sky,

 is hardly a waste of time. John Lubbock

Week 42

College graduation was last week so that means as of today, my summer begins.  I’ve already been tossing around some ideas about what to work on and I’m seeing my calendar fill quickly, and I want to make the most of my precious time….after all I will soon be turning 61 and that means my year’s experiment will be over. 

So I’m thinking that what I will do this week is go back and look at my initial categories from my first few weeks of laying out my plan for the year, and see which ones I have neglected.  One of the areas I’m already certain I would like to work on has to do with creativity and tapping into the wonder of childhood to reclaim some of its mystery and joy. 

I have recently been reviewing a book I read several years ago called the “Artist’s Way”.  It’s a workbook format so the author, Julia Cameron has her readers doing activities each week.  One of those activities revolves around calling up memories of childhood.  My childhood was wonderful! I was so blessed with wonderfully exilerating and creative days as a child. I spent many an afternoon lying on my back, alongside my sisters, watching the clouds float across the sky and giggling at their funny shapes that magically turned into elephants, dragons and gigantic ships sailing across the sea. 

As we get older, it seems we worry too much about bugs in the grass, or green stains on our clothes, or too long in the sun bringing on yet another wrinkle.  We call that time of leisure ‘wasted’ as we are getting absolutely nothing accomplished.   

But this summer I want to carve out some precious moments to hold a ladybug, pick wildflowers and help my grandchildren stir up some mud pies for dessert. Perhaps I’ll find an empty tire swing and feel the summer air swishing past my cheeks as I push higher and higher, or chase a flittering butterfly in an attempt to recapture memories that long to be relived. 

Now, if I can just round up my three sisters for a contest.  We’ll see which one of us can roll down a hill full of clover the fastest, and arrive at the bottom first.

Small step: Brainstorm some creative project ideas to work on over the summer