You are free to move slowly when you need to, even when it comes to allowing yourself to let joy in.
Morgan Harper Nichols
August is always ushered in with a heatwave here in Oklahoma. And the current August heat is actually a continuation of a heatwave that started in July.
🙂 So-o, moving slowly (and savoring the long hours of sunlight on a hot summer’s day) is a natural rhythm for me this time of year.
- Moving slowly and belonging to myself. The compatibility and empowerment of these guiding themes are healing me and inspiring my journey onward.
- Moving slowly (and letting joy in) is one of the ways I would define the current season-change I am living. ♥
- When we are in the midst of a season-change we must choose (especially within the “un-beautiful moments”) to ask beautiful questions.
- It is the willingness to ask such questions that ensures our peace of mind and clarity.
Look closely at the present you are constructing: it should look like the future you are dreaming.
Alice Walker
This post has been in draft mode for over a week; lots of “looking closely” in the form of free-writing and processing, along with edits to maintain my focus on the original inspiration for writing (an intention for August). I also copied/pasted around 600 words before deleting from here to add to my full moon journal.
In spite of the 100-degree heat, I have been sitting on my covered porch with my grrl in the late afternoon.
- Swaying in the shade of my covered porch amidst the heat, listening to the hum of cicadas with my Coco Luna (who typically stretches out the length of my patio glider).
- These moments lead to daydreams of childhood summers, when I would spend weeks with my maternal grandparents. My grandmother’s afternoon rituals included being outdoors before supper (and after her midday nap).
- My afternoons on the porch feel like time-traveling back to those summers, a time when everything felt safe and simple, and fun.
- There was so much love and ease when I was with my Mimi and Papa. There were always stories and music (Bluegrass or Country), Keebler Rich ‘n Chips cookies and poke salad (sometimes added to scrambled eggs). 🙂
Moving slowly and savoring a sense of newfound freedom has lead me to expand my definition of what a “positive outcome.” (Thank you, Morgan Harper Nichols, for always inspiring me to expand my definitions.) ♥
Summer has always been a season that felt easy for me. I remember working a split-shift as a waitress when I was high school and meeting up with friends poolside in-between.
- When my children were growing up, summer included movie nights, modified work and school schedules, reading programs and activities at the local library, day-trips and hosting pool parties.
- This summer I have enjoyed visits with all five of my grandchildren — an extra special blessing! ♥
Perhaps retirement is intended to be like an endless summer? Moving slowly and letting joy in …
Time to do whatever feels desired and doable, and concluding the “shoulds” of Life. Time for being outdoors, reading and day-trips — and fun. (And making memories with my grandchildren!) ♥
Braveheart, one of my primary focal points for this year has been to discern and determine what I need for my overall well-being. This has included the details of my “retirement” — what it includes, and what will be released and concluded.
After my mother died in February, the details of my retirement suddenly came to involve both personal and professional endeavors, desires and goals.
- As I have shared before, my mother passed in the midst of several familial shifts and crises. It was excruciating — but it also clarifying and restorative; it was affirming to abruptly stop “trying-harder” in attempts to resuscitate what I knew was “dead” and over.
- During the weeks following my mother’s death I became keenly aware of how much I have minimized the trauma of my life, and that “trying harder” had become unduly tied to my sense of worth.
It was also a tremendous comfort to be so supported by certain family members and longtime friends during that time. A comfort that led to a next-level shift of trust for me regarding my relationships. ♥
Once they are recognized, these patterns cannot go unnoticed. They change forever how the image of the world unfolds in our minds, change forever the categories of the models we build.
Michael Frame
The motivation behind Right Brain Planner® is to inspire a self-paced and compassionate creative practice by offering free and low-cost resources and support.
- I share about patterns I am noticing, along with selected details about my personal progress, ideas and examples because all of that is part of my right brain planning practice.
- This is one of the ways I foster a cycle of gratitude and inspiration; a cycle I have shared with supporters and patrons for over fourteen years.
- I also share about my right brain planning practice on my Ko-fi account and the private communities I host.
Thank you kindly for your presence here.
~love & good wishes~
P.S. Homemade ice cream is another memory of summer for me. 🙂 So, it felt like synchronicity when I read about Jeni’s ice cream in this post my Mari Andrew.
*Braveheart, I am especially grateful for your presence because it encourages me to write and share here. I am living (what feels like) a very s-l-o-w unfolding; these chronicles remind me that change is always gradual. ♥