Your vision becomes clear only when you look into your heart.
Who looks outside, dreams.
Who looks inside awakens.
~Carl Jung
I don’t believe there can be a much dreamier time then summer, the days are melting more and more into the evening hours as we approach June 21st which marks the summer solstice or midsummer and the longest day of the year. As the days grow longer we attempt to keep a schedule for bedtime and yet we are so energized and strengthened by the sun we find ourselves falling asleep later and even when we do fall asleep it is often a restless one. Have you been finding yourself tossing and turning lately with all of your thoughts and body sensations being so exaggerated? A little itch becomes mental torture – a distant dog barking seems endless. Perhaps it is the ego holding onto the outside world and in a final act of desperation ups the ante exaggerating everything related to our bodies and of the physical world. Or maybe it is just the child within us not wanting to let go. And as we lay there half asleep somewhere tucked in our slumber, there we are, still going over the day in our head or the next day to come and like a busy quilt our waking thoughts get sewn into our dreams some patches we like, some we don’t, still, they come together in an interesting and oddly beautiful way all the same.
I think all of the seasons stir nostalgia within us but summer seems more personal and carefree, and evokes something different for each of us. In the fall and winter, there are many gatherings happening both through work and within our families, some wonderful, still others bringing a feeling that feels forced or contrived in an effort to hold up tradition, but summer seems to spread out in front of us in a myriad of choices. Like children running on to a playground or into an amusement park, we greet it lovingly, each time our heads filled with ideas of the different things we will plant, the bounty of fresh vegetables and fruit that awaits us, new places we plan to visit and the old ones we long to return to.
When summer comes it is as if someone opened a door and our life becomes more spacious and free, even the main holiday we acknowledge is in celebration of freedom. For myself, my memories of summer are of diving into our backyard pool and upon plunging into the water feeling that quick shift of the outside world instantly disappearing into a magical one. I remember watching my hair flowing about around my face and also my sisters and being so struck, by how our hair looked dry under the water and only looked wet when we popped up back out of it. I loved the freedom of leaving one way of being and in a split second I could dive right into a completely different and magical world and one that was completely my own. Freedom rings all around us in the summer months, not only for children, but we all seem to be granted a bonus even after a long day of work with the abundance of sun that lights up this time of year. We can spend more time out in our yards and in nature with the sun still beaming a bright twilight that seems to last even after we crawl into bed.
The longer days also grant us permission to be a little lazy – be sure to allow yourself some time to daydream. Venture out into summer and its warmth, and as you are looking out at the ocean, the mountains, the vineyards, or just your own backyard take in the beauty and warmth of this season, close your eyes and journey into your heart, feel that same warmth and beauty as the center of our existence. Follow the sun this summer and ponder all that is and even if you don’t travel anywhere, you may just meet up with yourself.
~Cynthia
