Summer Breeze

Sometimes in the heart of winter, when I feel like I’ve been cold for months, it helps to find a summer breeze.

The warm scent of flowers blooming.  When a cool breeze feels like a refreshing drink.  I actually like walking into that wall of heat, when there’s nothing but it, packed in tight.  Barely room to move . . .  It can feel like a hug if you’ve been trapped in over cranked air conditioning most of the day!

Can you really hear the ocean in a shell?  The sound of it lulls me. Easy does it.  No where to be.  The feel of the ocean as it caresses your ankles, cooling you down.  And then receding, sinking your toes in the soft, wet sand.  It’s almost like a foot massage.

I adore the sun sparkling through thick green leaves. When the trees are full I feel abundant, pregnant with possibilities!

One of my favorite things about summer is the bursts of color you see everywhere.  Flowers along the side of the road, in parking lots, and surrounding houses.  Most everyone is wearing colorful clothes, too.  There’s a spirit of vacation and having fun.

Ah, the long evenings, cooling down, but remaining sultry. The sun gracing the day until nearly 9 pm!  When there’s still enough light in the sky to see by, it makes me feel like the days are endless.

Blank Verse

The words aren’t coming. Sometimes they get caught up when I’m focusing a lot of effort on something else.  I can feel it.  It’s not about being a writer and being blocked.  It’s about being a human being with issues and responsibilities.  And allowing them to take over.  It’s all there.  I know it is.

There are a few solutions I’ve found to release the clog.  One of my favorites is taking a vacation.  Even if that means taking a day or even an hour.  If I do it that fast though, I have to mean business.  No washing dishes, doing the filing or just doing this one thing . . .  I have to be serious about resting and/ or playing if I want the full effect.

Speaking of playing, hearing live music always opens me up.  I’m not sure exactly how that works. But almost without fail, when I listen to musicians (all right, they have to be half-way decent musicians) playing, within 24 hours, I have something to say.

Another remedy is to make a practice of doing one small thing for myself every day, for a few days in a row.  For best results, I must be sure to do something that’s really good for me.  Giving myself the chocolate sundae I’ve been wanting will only offer a momentary buzz.  It wears off quickly and won’t produce the kind of writing worth the calories.  It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate or expensive.  A few moments of quiet may be all I need.  Perhaps it’s a talk with a good friend.  Sometimes I just need permission to write whatever I feel like, instead of what I’m trying to write.

One of my favorite and most effective ways to get things flowing again is to work my muscles.  I’ve spoken before of Natalie Goldberg’s  Writing Practice.   What an amazing thing that is!  I’ve often thought it would be really cool if Natalie would offer weekly (or even daily) writing prompts.  She’s very good at it.  There are quite a lot in her books.  But I can also pull a topic out of a hat.  Write for 10 minutes about hats. Many times I have opened the gates after a few days of writing practice.  If you don’t use your muscles enough they tighten up, too.  I stand by my statement:  Nothing breeds Writing like Writing.

Sometimes it is a matter of what’s going on in my head.  This does require a little sorting out of the priorities.  Writing about it always helps me. 

 But in the end it always comes down to just putting pen to paper or fingers to keys.  Voila!  457 words. (And I thought I had nothing to say.)

Nothing More Than Feelings

My new coach has given me an assignment.  It’s an abundance practice.  As she tells the story,  I have a rich aunt who gives me a hundred dollars.  The only stipulation is that I have to spend it. Tomorrow, and each day henceforth, she will double her gift to me.  Every day I must spend my allotment.  Okay, so I had some fun buying  new clothes and furniture.  But when it got into the $100,000 range, I got a little stuck.  I decided I’d been greedy enough, now it was time to give.  So, I gave $25,000 each to four different charities – for peace, to fight hunger, Habitat for Humanity, and a foundation for teenage girls.  Low and behold, I was left with $2,400. What to do with it?  How about a nice vacation? 

I liked that.  How much does a vacation cost?  I picked my destination and started looking at luxury resorts.  I found a lovely one by the beach.  I wish I knew how to drop in a picture!  Turned out I had to book one of their best rooms, take the spa package and stay 6 days . . . life is rough!

SARK has an exercise she uses.  I think she calls it an Instant Vacation.  (Not sure of that.)  She has a program called SARK’s Awesome Anytime Adventure.  She is one who believes in such things. 

SARK instructs you to get comfortable and imagine your ideal vacation in detail.  It was a Sunday, so I went for it.  I laid down and imagined us arriving at the hotel, a porter, of course, will take our bags to the room.  He explains some of the amenities of the hotel and tells us about some good music in the local town.  I went through each day – one day we walked into town and did some shopping, another day we just sat at the beach, another, we took a boat cruise.  One morning we spent at their gorgeous pool. Every afternoon we went to the spa for a little workout and a massage.  They offered surfing lessons, which we just had to try. Wow, did I feel good!  One evening we went into town to check out the scene.  Another evening we stayed at the hotel and had dinner in their restaurant and hung out the poolside bar.  We took lots of walks on the beach and had a scrumptious time!

I can’t say that after my meditation session I felt like I had been pampered for a week, but I did feel pretty good.  One might even say I was refreshed.

But here’s the kicker.  On the  reality plane, there is no $2400 vacation in my future.  What exists is a long weekend at a friend’s house.  Can’t compete with a week’s resort  stay. 

I don’t understand it.  Maybe it has to do with the body not knowing the difference.  It is the feelings that count, after all.  I’m excited about our weekend getaway – almost as if we were spending a week at the beach.  I’m looking forward to each little detail of the weekend, what I will wear, what we will do, the feel of the water in the pool, the sun on my face, the evening breezes, the fun we’ll have with our friends.  I can’t wait!

Feelings are truly powerful juju.

Easy Rollin’

SARK’s got me thinking about Vacation. I’m of the mind these days that I am pushing so hard, staying focused, trying to do so much . . . it sounds like a good idea to plug in some of that “Vacation Feeling” as often as I can.

Maybe a good song will put me in the mood. I believe that Felix Cavaliere, famed member of the music group The Rascals from the mid-60’s to the early 70’s, never got his due for having written a lot of very spiritual and inspirational music. Some of his songs are far deeper than his rock group image.

“People Got to Be Free,” recorded in 1968, should be the world’s anthem: “You

should see, what a lovely, lovely world this would be; If everyone learned to live together. It seems to me such an easy, easy thing this would be. Why can’t you

and me learn to love one another.”  I don’t know if it’s ever been said better.

“Lucky Day” is an upbeat number which chants, “This must be my lucky day.” “Brother Tree, Ray of Hope, Heaven, Beautiful Morning.” I would call all of these spiritual songs.The one I choose to sing each and every day of my Vacation Life, one that fills me with the vacation feeling is “Easy Rollin.” I give you the Divinely-inspired words of Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati ~

 

“Easy rollin’, ain’t no need to hurry at all.

It’s just a special mornin’ when I wake yawnin’ and sun is shinin’.

I feel like I’ve been dreamin’ & freelance schemin’

On the colored rainbows.

Everything’s fine, now.

As long as it’s. . . Easy rollin’.

Never see me worried no more, oh no.

Don’t have a care or worry, no need to hurry

For relaxation.

I’m turnin’ in all my hassles & buldin’ castles

For my vacation.

It’s gonna be nice now.

Just keepin’ it . . . Easy rollin’, no need to hurry at all.

Believe it, you don’t have to worry, no.

Hmm hmm hmm mmm, hmm oh.

I’m livin’ a dream a minute, deep down within it

My life’s a flower.

I think that I wouldn’t change or rearrange

A single hour.

Everything’s fine now; it’s got to be

Easy rollin’

Don’t you worry at all. Don’t have to worry no more.

Don’t have to hurry at all.

Keep it easy.”

Ahhh! Feel the sun? Hear the surf? I’m there.  Taking it easy.