August is One Long Sunday
C’mere girl! I ain’t seen you in a month of Sundays!
Like many folks, I have an Uncle Junior. This is how he greeted me the last time I saw him. That plus a warm hug, and freshly squeezed lemonade. It was a terribly hot July day in Southern California the last time I visited. It dawned on me that the coming month, with all that it brings – school preparation – feels like an interminable Sunday.
For those of us on a school schedule for whatever reason – children, spouses, employment – August is usually the time you get a whiff of autumn’s upcoming responsibilities. As a writer, you invariably question whether you’ve done enough with your time. Sometimes you question whether you will be able to get anything done during the school year. Even for those on sabbatical, you recognize that the semester is a more certain beginning than the summer. This is also the time that administrators begin to recklessly eyeball your schedule and begin emails with “I don’t want to intrude on your summer but…”
I just want to pause and acknowledge whatever anxiety, anger, or disappointment has welled up in you. I certainly feel it as I write this.
Fear not.
The beauty of Sunday – as a concept – is that is a day of preparation. This means that you get to make certain decisions about the upcoming week or, in this case, school year. You can decide beforehand how you will spend your time, what you will say “yes” or “no” to, what you want to achieve. I like the advice in Shanna Greene Benjamin’s summer planning seminar. Imagine you’re at the end and you didn’t meet your goal. What got in the way? How can you reverse engineer whatever accountability and support you might need?
Making decisions beforehand allows you to alert relevant parties, including yourself, and be clear about your goals. Planning also reminds you how much control you do or do not have over certain elements of your life. Quite frankly, whatever I have gotten done with a plan pales in comparison to what I have gotten done without a plan.
I’d be remiss if I did not mention that planning also allows for reflection. I ask myself what did I get done? Why? This question allows me to replicate positive environments and reinforcement and joy. Alternatively, what didn’t happen and why? This allows me to sort through what I could control and what I couldn’t. It also allows me to avoid certain pitfalls (one of mine is having unrealistic plans that don’t take “down time” into account). I also like to ask myself: how do I feel? Here, I get in touch with whether I am disappointed, proud, or excited. Knowing my feelings helps me figure out why I interpret my answers to the other questions. If I am disappointed, I tend to overlook what I did well. If I am proud, I tend to neglect some of the things that got in the way.
Conceptually speaking, Sunday is also the day for winding down and reflection. Some folks imagine church, drifting on water, swimming, play, naps, cookouts, long drives (maybe not with these gas prices), and the like. Whatever the case, you imagine a day where you can relax. Me? I see myself reclining with a book in the golden haze of a waning sun, warming myself, and stretching like a cat.
Be sure that you take advantage of this time to relax. Fall is coming but summer is not over. You are not required to be stagnant while you wait for fall to arrive. You can take advantage of every opportunity to mark the end of summer. This is one of the reasons why I like Labor Day cookouts: we get to still enjoy each others’ company and the feeling of timelessness that seems to only come with vacations (summer or otherwise).
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