Lessons from summer 27/52

"Always keep your face towards the sunshine and let the shadows fall behind you" 

Theme: Movie lines and life 

July - Lessons from summer

We have barely touched our toes into summer, yet here I am looking for the lessons I need to learn. Maybe the education I want comes from the summers of my past. Perhaps it is because summer is our reminder to enjoy the outdoors providing more time to linger in the longer days and warmer temperatures.  

When winter seemed to drag about, I noticed how slowly the minutes of daylight returned. From our shortest day in December to February, mere minutes are added to our daylight hours. Tracking both the sunrise and sunset with journal entries marking the span of daylight is where I watched the days grow longer. Paying attention as each day collapsed and expanded into another. During the summer, after the longest day, the daylight hours slip away in these small increments we barely notice until suddenly we lost hours of light. 

As the sunlight of the season fades in the distance, the cooler temperatures of fall arrive. Time nudging us with a slower pace, less urgency to fill the hours, more time indoors. When I began mourning the loss of daylight, I was reminded about the present. How this moment is the one that matters. Looking back, whether its summer or winter, light or dark, the only thing that matters is how we use our time. How we show up in our lives, paying attention to the people around us, taking each day with ease and admiration that this gift is. 

Time slows down when I pay attention, I am present to witness the change of seasons, the shorter days, the sweetness in the air. I notice how each day is transforming, like my body, my life, everything evolves, slowly ripening to a new sense of time and accepting the wonder of it all.