Summer is a tough time for me. The switch from the crazy rhythm of work, huge traffic and full days to lazier days, emptier streets and a deserted office always seems to throw me off kilter. Working in an international community, summer also means goodbyes and hellos, letting some people go and taking the leap to let others in.
I start to get anxious about summer around May. On one hand it is the anticipated vacation and rest, on the other, the unknown effect of whatever changes will happen. And every year I try to prepare: sign up for things that would keep me busy still, make summer work lists, book appointments I don’t have time to do during the year, set meetings with people I have not seen in a while, sign up for the longest reading lists on Goodreads. And all of this to avoid what will come anyway: change.
The recipe for embracing change – which is truly the only scenario that moves us forward – is different though and “simple”: just go with the flow. Easier said than done but the catch is, I am finding that trying hard to avoid the flow of change brings me nothing but more struggle and frustration. I am trying to accept the invitation the universe is sending me every summer to be in the moment, feel whatever it is that comes to be felt, see what is happening and what it brings to me – as it always does bring me something useful, even if I come to realise it half a year later.
This blog post does not talk about discovering another America or about re-inventing another wheel, I know. It is good however to be reminded every now and again that resistance only makes things harder and that, besides the inevitable end, the only other certainty in life is change.
Connect 