Hello all you beautiful humans!
It's mid-summer here and now, and it's been a much more meek and mild summer than we've been used to he last few years. That being said, I still struggle with finding the “joy of summer” that I feel like I may have been better at when I was younger.
Though, if I'm honest, I've always been a fall-winter individual at heart.
With the coming of the summer comes a dropping off of students in my studio, a slowing of new classes and art evaluation gigs, and a lowering of my overall energy levels. This year has been no exception.
The difference this year is that I've been feeling much more up for REST. Those that know me will be quick to say that I'm usually everywhere, doing everything, all at once. And while this is still true, I'm noticing a much more relaxed and quiet vibe to my summer that I feel like I've allowed myself to have in the past. I feel like I'm recognizing my need for a quieting of my schedule, less movement and overall chill vibes.
This has done wonders for my overall mental health.
It's not only given me the space I need to fill up my dangerously empty cup for the first time in awhile, but it's also given me the capacity to reconnect with myself and what I need. I'm setting boundaries that desperately needed to be set. I'm focusing on saying what I need to say, and on connecting with others over what I need, and they need, and we need together.
Important for a number of reasons - because I've been notoriously poor with this in the past.
I'm reconnecting to parts of myself that felt dormant for a very long time - the need to create, for the sake of creating for one. How I fit into a greater conversation in terms of creation, my interactions with others and the greater world around me has become a question I ponder daily - and it feels so good to feel like I have the capacity for it once again.
My hope is that, in reading this, other people will find a bit more stillness in their life, even if it's just for a moment. What thoughts are coming up? What feelings? Do you drawn to or compelled to try something new? Take a risk? Is there a need for connection that just hasn't been there as of late? (Or for a very long time?)
Is there more you're hoping to get out of existence?
In our late capitalist world, it can feel like having less is a death sentence. Less students in my studio? My work is dead. No views on a video or streams on my new song? Creative career OVER. Not working into the early morning hours on some new creation? No new opportunities coming in for a little while?
It's all over. Done.
But it's not - is it? What can be gained from perceived loss? I know I feel like I'm gaining new perspective on what my life could be - how much more connected I can be to myself and therefore to my community and chosen family around me. Ways to see the world through new eyes - ones that see the collective sadness and trauma and still want to see a better world for the present and the future. That's a powerful shift. In a world that desperately wants to see us feel helpless - it can be so beautiful to see and believe that there's more out there and more to be done. That there's hope.
And that's what I need to lean into as I continue through this summer slow-down and on into the future.
Let me know what you think and what you've been doing to feel connection lately - I'd love to hear your thoughts! And have a lovely rest of whatever day or time of the year it is <3