Summer is my favorite season. It seems the most potent reminder to soak up the moment. If I don’t stop to notice the roses in our yard, next thing you know, they’re faded and falling away.
Summer gets my attention like no other season. Biking around the neighborhood, splashes of color attract my eye. I can’t help but oo and ahh over them just like my mom did when we drove around our town when I was a girl.
It’s easy for time to rush past. I think, what have I done? I see all the things ahead and the projects I want to do.
But when I do a mid-year review, I tap into that slow summer vibe. I pull over and reflect on my efforts. I notice that so far this year, I focused mainly on curriculum development. I love designing experiences for people and this year gave me the chance to develop a bunch of new programs.
My new courses include Your Creative DNA, Paris Sketchbook, Write Your Heart Out in Paris and Write Your Book Coaching Group.
I also pivoted two live courses, The Devoted Writer and Write Your Travel Stories into self-guided programs you can take any time.
We also produced 15 episodes of Stumbling Toward Genius. AND I wrote a draft of my new book.
Time for a break, right!?
I’m supposedly taking my summer ‘break’ but if I’m honest, the only thing I have paused for the season is hosting my coaching groups.
There’s a lot on my plate…I have a handful of new clients I am excited to work with. I’m finalizing the curriculum for my two Paris workshops. I am a juror for a literary grant (more on that in an upcoming issue).
I had grand designs for designing my current book. It’s going to be illustrated! I also considered putting together a book proposal for the book.
What happened to slow, easy summer? Does this happen to you – despite your intentions, life revs and drags you along?
I had to pull the bus over and admit it was time to let some things go.
In my current book, there’s a chapter about how we are affected by the seasons. How each season has its creative vibe. For me, summer is time for my artist to be in the lead. She is painting the summer CSA share and filling a sketchbook of garden delights and more.
Summers are where I replenish, recharge, and get in touch with my wild nature. I need time in the summer where I am not fully booked with work. Summers are for reading more. Summers mean more time outside, away from the screen.
That doesn’t mean no work, just less of it. So, how to lower my expectations and workload? I can defer the book project to this fall. It will be my Atelier project. (Yes, I do a project alongside everyone else!)
Do the seasons affect your creative cycles? Do you dial back the expectations in the summer?
Share your thoughts on this at the Original Impulse Blog here.
I hate the summer. I live in Los Angeles and the older I get, the hotter it gets and it lasts well into the fall. I perk up like a wilted flower with the AC turned up full blast in the car. I stay inside much of the day if I can do that, working on inside stuff. The sun is too bright. Fall is my season. The temperature drops, the colors change, I bring out the darker colors, I go ‘back to school’. Right now, I can only work in the garden before 10am and after 4, 5pm. I did lots of garden work in May/June with the heat deadline approaching. Cynthia, do you have to stay inside much of the winter?
Bobbi,
It’s so good to know what your seasons are! The way you describe LA is similar to Denver. I don’t hate it yet, though! I do try to stay inside in the middle of the day.
In winter I do love the feeling of cocooning and focus. It seems like the time to get writing done. But I get outside a lot anyway; I try to walk every day and love being outside in almost any season!