Summer Reset for Mental Health
Summer is in full swing. With the heatwave and patios opening, you’d think we are ready to wave goodbye to the pandemic and the pulsing anti-racist revolution that winter and spring brought. We're not. Not really. However, we are ready to say, "Hello, summerlicious!"
Now, press pause, for one mindful moment.
Before the summer celebrations and rituals at the cottage, at the beach, or in the backyard end, before the first yellow leaf falls, take time to reflect and record thoughts on the tumult of the past four months. Or pause to name the feelings of unease floating in this uncertain in-between time. Reflect on lessons learned during those days of isolation, and panic due to the pandemic. Sort through thoughts on what’s learned and yet to unlearn post-George Floyd’s death and the conversations on racial injustice. Or perhaps there's something else more pressing you are personally processing right now.
A reflection piece doesn’t have to be an essay to be effective. Dot jot notes on your phone will do. But think it; then ink it to comprehend it.
Summer sails on and will not wait. There won’t be another 2020 summer. Do it now. Record reflections on the winter and spring of “our discontent” and the summer showers before the fall of the unknown. Reflecting and recording is simply good mental health practice for summer or at any time. Just like keeping a gratitude journal.
Here are my reflections, inked in the form of a poem. What might your reflections say to you or to others?
Your Yard, My Yard
If I stay in my own yard
Frigid
And you in your known yard
Rigid
We may miss meeting
Beauty
Where the clematis climbs
Confident
Of reaching the third yard
Placid
In pursuit of height and light.