Boom, another Summer, and last year I thought I wouldn’t get through the warm days and short nights. My parents were both in need of some help and me and my siblings stepped up to the plate and together we did our best. My promise to myself last year was to accept a Summer gone, and enjoy it in 2013 instead.
It’s June, and while we had some great Spring days, we’ve had a greater amount of windy weeks that made me doubt if it was actually Autumn or still Winter. Anyway, we’re here now. Time to refresh my thoughts, make time to sit outside, walk more, be on my bike more, visit more friends and family, and work on everything that’s I’ve been pushing forward and forward.
The above was never posted on June the 1st, because I wanted to give myself a few weeks to figure out how the weather is changing, if at all, and if I am making use of it. It’s been a few weeks and I am picking up this draft again to reflect. Let’s do this!
The weather went from a poor 16 degrees Celsius (I think that’s around 60 in Fahrenheit) to a sudden 30 degrees (that’s about 80), and while I know many other places where people are used to much higher temps, we go from a stupid cold handful of months to “hello, here’s hot air, and you’re breathing it, oh and by the way – I’ve set humidity to 90%” Arrrgh! At least let me get used to it so I can enjoy the Summer.
But that’s okay! My apartment is warm, but cooler than outside, and I am trying to keep it that way. And I try to eat on the balcony (just windy sometimes), and I have been doubling the kilometers with my bike, taking longer routes and biking more frequently.
There have been a few setbacks due to outside influences, where my emotional state didn’t feel provoked to jump on a bike, or go for a walk, or think twice about what I am going to do with my days. But, it gave me time to finish other things and create space for the last week of June and a productive but Summer-friendly July.
My apartment needs proper attention so I am thinking about hiring professionals rather than doing it myself. And use the time instead to just clean and tidy. It’s six months into the year and I haven’t really organized my papers yet. Which I usually do!
At the same time I am scheduling in days where I just want to be off the Internet, a short disconnect where I at the most read a message on the phone, or talk to just a specific friend on Skype. But just be offline for that day to allow my brain to let go of online stress. I need to learn to let go of coding projects, hobbies, and what not. For as much as the Internet is an escape for me from real life, I also need to escape my online stuff by being away from keyboard.
I could list multiple examples, but it’s as boring as the ones above, and the only thing I wanted to post about is the opportunity that’s in front of me to do something with the Summer, despite the weather-setback and feel better about myself and my life when the darker Winter days come again.
These slight tweaks to a simple schedule might allow me to create more happy days and nights for me, enjoying the weather more and having time to let my eyes relax and my mind to get clear. And with a bit of luck I will find days or a weekend where I can jump on a train in Amsterdam and end up in a city somewhere in Europe.