SUMMER’S OFFERING

Summer arrives
with a soft rhapsody of
meandering days.
Lightening bugs usher in the night sky
with green-hued fireworks.

Tiger lilies sway.  Shasta daisies rise.
Queen Anne's lace adorns a regal path.
Emerald trees with arms extended,
and corn knee-high,
Reach to honor a timeless season.

A warm shower sprinkles downward
trading beads of sun sweat with rain drops.
soaking soil and skin.
Reviving a parched earth.
Children dance to the pitter-pat of the drizzle.

Early morning bird chatter

sings praises of another day.

Dusk purpled evenings

invite watermelon seed spitting,

hot dogs and the hymn of crickets.

This amazing season
with stretched, sultry days--
fresh with sit down for a spell,
slow down and notice the silence 
of sunlight and shadow.

Time is summer's offering.
So savor this season--
Restore with laughter and with play.
Renew with a slow motioned stillness.
Receive summer's silent spaciousness.

       And the update…

Last Tuesday I had my first Fun Day and began what I am referring to as a year of Project Play.  My first Fun Day was just that—pure fun.  I slept in.  Played with words.  Created an appetizer.  Watched a movie with a friend.  Spent the evening with other friends, enjoying a summer rain under the protection of a screened-in porch, accompanied by good food and lots of belly laughter as we relived stories of our trip to Italy.  I fell asleep renewed. 

 

And I awoke the next morning with a deeper understanding of the purpose of play and a dedication to honor and create a place for play in my life.  My next summer Fun Day is July 19.  I began to teach two classes on Monday through Thursday for the next five weeks and I am coordinating a workshop this coming weekend so there is no stretch of a day to create a full Fun Day until July 19.  To build my Project Play I want to create one time daily when I am choosing something for the fun of it between now and then—even if it is for only a short time period.  I will let you know how this is working (ooops…I mean playing out) for me.

SUMMER FUN DAYS

I don’t know about you, but if I would let myself, I would work all of the time.  I take that back…I would work and work and work till I get to a place of overwhelm and then I would fritter a day a way in a very mindless fashion.  I have to-do lists out the wazoo and they grow instead of diminish the harder I work.  I keep a running list of all of the things I need to accomplish and you would think that it would start to become smaller with time.  It grows.  And lately, I have been more and more inclined to the mindless days as a reaction to “The List”

This mindset, although productive for the most part, has not in the long term served me well.  So this summer, I am breaking the pattern. I am creating a paradigm shift.   I have instituted what I can “Fun Days”.  Instituting these days, at first, seemed to be more difficult than I thought.  Fun.  Fun.  What can I do for fun.  Coming up with the list took a while to get my mental juices going in the direction of fun.  Then the list began to flow and whenever I came up with another idea it would go on the list.  I was sharing this idea with some friends and a friend suggest that I cut up the list and put it in a sand bucket for summer and pull from the bucket to create my fun day as they arrived. 

I calendared in six fun days this summer—which is amazing because the summer is so full of teaching college classes, home obligations and prep for the fall that my time could be frittered away on “have to’s”.  (I am liking that word “fritter” today—it seems playful).  But fun is a have to, too.  AND TODAY IS MY FIRST FUN DAY!  Happy Tuesday!  Happy Fun Day!  I have been thinking about this day for the past week.  The rules for this day are:

1.       I have fun on Fun Day!

2.       I don’t do anything on my “to do” list.

3.       I don’t mindlessly waste the day away.

4.       I choose from my fun list activities in any way that makes the day full of fun.

So today I slept in.  My daughter is coming over to make me breakfast (after I asked her to join me for breakfast).  I am taking a walk in nature by myself.  I am writing.   I am going to see a funny movie during a matinee on a Tuesday with a friend who happens also to be free—but I was willing to go by myself.  I am making a yummy appetizer and then joining three other friends for a reunion dinner. 

I calendared in the dates several weeks ago, knowing that I would be doing this activity this summer.  The dinner came up after I had scheduled the fun day.  Since it is fun I calendared it in.   A dentist appointment also came up for today. That is not fun so I politely asked if we could choose another day for the appointment.  You need to know, creating fun is really hard for me…so sticking to this is really an awesome accomplishment.

So, today is my fun day.   How are you including fun into your summer?  I have lots of ideas in my sand pail, if you are looking for some ideas!  Happy summer fun!

Thank you, Stacy and Ruth for hosting us on your site.