Introspective Summer Highlights

I’m happy that this Summer I was successful in establishing and keeping a new routine of doing a bit of inspirational reading each morning, conducted simultaneously with my coffee-drinking ritual. That is, while combing through recommended books, I try to look for meaningful passages, underline magical phrases, make marginal notes, contemplate a better me. At least for a few moments, I’m able to establish a calm and confident outlook for the rest of the day. I’m loving those precious quiet times. Then I jump up from the couch and resume my usual routine of wasting time on the computer and household chores, until it’s time to get ready for the gym. By this method, over the past Summer, I’ve been all over the place introspectively-speaking, covering a lot of inner territory, but haven’t gone anywhere globally-speaking.

Via MoveGirlGO, I’ve chronicled some other Summer highlights over the past months — mostly in terms of my Summer PLANS, such as:

— Taking new gym classes in order to get my body into bikini-worthy shape . . .  Reality: Never did don a swimsuit.

— Scheduling fun outings to Giants games and Bay Area museums . . . Reality: Didn’t happen.

— Reading a long list of novels . . . Reality: Several titles abandoned as awful, with most others remaining unread. Despite my miserable record, allow me to recommend All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, which I loved.

— Get Cranking on Ceramics . . . Reality: I’m a bit burnt-out after a fairly successful run of creativity, and can’t seem to get back in the groove.

Is it the case that we all seem to live season-to-season as well as day-to-day, always on the lookout for something upbeat to keep the old heart pounding and to put ourselves into a happy state of mind, or some semblance thereof? Or is that just me? Regardless, I will let Summer bygones be bygone, and press on into Autumn. Hopefully it will be a season of getting lots more accomplished than merely planning.

[Img.Src: Dulcie Deamer reading, 1920s]