Permission to melt
Let July be July
I'm starting to understand the line in the poem: Let July be July. It's hot & sordid. We should be at the height of laze and ennui, but we're inundated anyway.
I want to eat cold things and slip into the waves of a wide and chilly river.
I don't know anything in the summer – all my plans and regimens melt into the Earth; some wash away in wild thunderstorms, some seep through the weeds to later emerge as a delayed harvest hurrah before fall.
We're in mid-July and many moments of summer are already gone.
Here and now, in the morning haze before the day becomes unbearable, there is a slight hint of cool on the breeze, but even that won't last.
I've been reminding myself that our focus and attention in the present moment is all that we have.
The plans of tomorrow are not yet realized and yesterday is just the foundation on which we stand.
This sentiment seems to be rippling through my conversations lately.
In my coaching sessions this week, I've been hearing this same feeling from many of my clients. They've been feeling guilty for not maintaining a frenetic pace, and are so conditioned to the traditional adult roles that sinking into a slower way of being feels foreign and unsettling.
What if we let go of that guilt and allowed ourselves to move more slowly, intuitively, and less forced?
What if this summer, instead of fighting the heat and the slowness, we surrendered to July being July?
What would it look like to let your plans melt a little?
What might emerge from the weeds of your unfinished to-do lists if you gave them permission to wait until fall?
And, speaking of rhythms, I'm slowly letting mine unfold. Thank you to all of you who made time with me to talk as I clarify the services I offer and what my next chapter holds for me, and for future clients.
Starting next month, I'm opening my calendar for some life strategy sessions to help you move into the season more purposefully — thinking about what you want to carry forward from summer's slower wisdom and what you're ready to cultivate as the year shifts.
Hit reply if you want to know more, or if you have thoughts on any of this.
I love hearing how these reflections land and what you're discovering about your own summer rhythms.
xox, Michelle
Escaping here. <3
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