Every year when school gets out, I have enjoyed the transition into summer. It often brings back memories of my childhood. I grew up in a small town on Cape Cod. At the beginning of every day, we would decide which beach we were going to for the day or how we were going to connect with our cousins. My aunt had a hammock in her backyard and my cousins, and I would get together for hours on end singing songs and swinging on that hammock or being creative developing plays that we would showcase for our parents in the evening. When we were very young my mom would take us to the beach. As we got older, we would walk or ride our bicycles. We were outdoors every single day and I remember one time it was raining outside, and my mom asked all of us to go outdoors. I can remember telling my mom that it was raining out to which she replied, “Well then, get your bathing suits on and go outdoors and splash around in the puddles like the ducks”!! What? I was not happy as you might imagine. The only time we didn’t have to go outdoors was if there was a hurricane or a thunderstorm. Yet as I have gotten older, I have appreciated the wisdom of my mom. Yes, it is enormously helpful to our long-term health to move every single day, connect with nature and a supportive community of friends or family, being creative and playful together. It was a magical time.
During the years when I was raising my daughter, I looked forward to the summer as a time when we were not driven by a constant schedule of school, sports and their meets, music lessons and recitals as well as my own very demanding career responsibilities. I love the summer as a time when our family’s schedule has more freedom to it, and I can choose to focus on the things that rejuvenate my soul and allow me to have fun with my daughter. Now that she is grown and off on her own, I have the time to refocus on my own life, health, needs and personal rejuvenation again.
As I have gotten older, I have thought about how to create more magic in my life. I wonder if you ask yourself, as I do, how do we bring back the joy, the fun, the playfulness, the creativeness and authenticity of childhood? Possibly, I am answering my own question. Maybe we can do that by setting an intention this summer, this month of July to choose fun, joy, creativity, connection and magic! Decide for it, imagine it, seek it out, reach for it, see it for yourself before you go to sleep each night and visualize it each morning when you wake up. There is no better time than now to do that. The world may be on fire but when we choose our intentions for these positive emotions, and let go of anything that no longer serves us, not only do we help ourselves to gradually or swiftly experience that for ourselves but, we in turn, share that fun, joy, creativity, light, hope and inspiration with the world, which desperately needs it!
I just may be inspired to go out and buy a hammock to put up in the backyard to design some time to relax with a good book dedicated to destressing myself mind, heart and spirit. Maybe you could create your own intentions. You could invite friends to join you for a walk in Mother Nature, which calms the spirit or take a Cooking Class with a chef at a local farm, or a painting class with a local artist instructor to tune into your creativity! The sky is the limit as they say! What ideas do you have to bring more joy and magic into your summer fun? I hope you can share your ideas on our community webpage, Wellness Parenting at
https://www.facebook.com/bWellnessParenting/
so, together, we can share some fun ideas for many to experience this summer to refresh, renew, rejuvenate and replenish our Spiritual Parenting Bank, as I like to call it!!
This month, of July in the season of summer, I hope that you can set your intentions of what you would love to do this summer so that you are developing your life by design and not by default. That you are creating that magic for yourself and your family to experience joy, happiness, creativity, inspiration and rejuvenation. I believe that our hearts, minds and spirits need that more than ever!
I hope you have a Joyful, Fun and Magical July! To your good health through Intentional Wellness©™ Parenting- Winning Every Living day through Love, Nutrition, Exercise, Serenity and Spirituality!