SUMMER'S BREEZE

Photo from www.myopera.com

By: Cynthia Litman


Pearl of the Day: Easy Peezy

Last week Melissa shared her precious pearl “don’t force it” (which she reminds me constantly) and I believe the path to simplifying our lives is balancing the need for structure, going with the flow and either climbing or avoiding the brick walls.

The summer days are longer and your spirit soars in free form. The school year is over and there’s a new groove. Do you let loose and go free form or do you maintain law, order, structure and a schedule?

Those like moi, have a slight semblance of schedule (camp routine) but yearn to chart the course of the day by following whichever way the summer breeze blows. On a recent day, I had stuff to do (short list - get the kids off to camp, exercise, errands, post blog, do work, make calls, pick up kids, dinner, etc.) Yet people were breezing in left and right wanting to talk, do lunch, make plans and talk shop.

So often I feel like I’m being shot out of a cannon, yet on that day, I didn’t fight it, nor race through the air. I talked to my friends until they were finished, answered each call and took the day one swagger at a time. Somehow everything fit in and got done. Okay not everything, not even close, but what was supposed to be, was.

In The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf the Gray responds to “your late” with the amazing pearl, “a wizard arrives precisely when he means to.”

So, there. I’m never actually late. I’m right on time, my time.

I see these mini-segways as welcome summer breezes. The summer breeze is that fresh breath of air that signals relief. A welcome reminder that it shant always be a heat wave. Yet that breeze is few and far between the long hot breaths of summer. You carry on pounding the pavement of your daily grind wondering if the summer breeze will come or oftentimes forgetting it altogether and then when there’s no relief in sight, the breeze caresses your face for a brief oasis that reminds you the tides will turn and you can take a refreshing dip in the cool ocean.

We all innately search this world to catch our breeze, like a surfer out there waiting for the perfect narly wave. It’s our endless search to find and nourish our true nature. Yet reading the signs or listening to the whisper on the breeze are easy to miss in life’s busy fleeting moments.

In my career and relationships I’ve learned when a door slams in my face or a person shuts me down, it’s a pretty good sign that that’s not my entrance, so go knock on door number 2, 3, 4 or 100 or alternatively, build my own damn door.

On days when I do feel I’m chasing too hard or too fast I often feel like I can’t keep up or I’m heading straight for a brick wall. Perhaps it’s time to just slow down. Would you rather miss the wave, ride it, or wipe out? Giving up the chase does not mean giving up. Rather, show up and be fully present.

I see my children and want them to fully enjoy the moment for within their structure they find their own ebb, flow and rhythm. I trust their nature and expose them to different things to see what they gravitate towards. I mean, why champion your child as the next David Beckham when he really is the next Bill Gates?

Nature is not forced but yet naturally is the strongest force out there. In the still of the summer night when all the lights are out, the outdoors is loud as can be. Singing a song only the Cicadas and crickets can sing. I enjoy this symphony knowing not to far off is the stillness and quiet of winter, which brings a different symphony and a blistering breeze.

The summertime is for simplicity or simple structures, so stay cool and go with your flow.  Lighten up and remember life is but a breeze.

Copyright © 2010 Cynthia Litman d/b/a Tigris Imprints. All Rights Reserved.