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Summer Manifesto

Tomorrow at noon I will be officially on summer vacation. To say that I am excited to be on break would be an understatement. (See here for an end-of-year reflection where I try to come to terms with my feelings surrounding this very challenging school year.) At the same time, the end of the school year is always bittersweet. There is the mental and physical exhaustion that comes with having spent an average of 180 days of the year with students and adults in a very closed environment that often breeds the worst and the best in all of us. Then, there is the anticipation of renewal as we look forward to the summer months full of days without having to be regulated by an alarm clock. Yet, the truth is that many of us may still get up at the crack of dawn to attend to graduate work, personal and/or professional writing, or just to steal a few minutes of peace before everyone else in the house wakes up; this is not much different from what happens in my house during the school year.

The summer is always over way too quickly for my taste. It seems that September rolls around before I've had a chance to get into a routine that feels comfortable. I end up with a pile of books I intended to read, still unread. I have appointments that I planned to make that end up getting pushed to the fall. My "to do" list of projects barely has a scratch on it.

So, my new goal this summer is to take one day at a time and to try to enjoy that moment to the fullest. I will have some projects to work on but I won't bathe myself in disappointment when I find that I couldn't finish all ten projects and that, of the 20 books I had lined up, I only read two or three. Instead, I pledge to take each day as it comes and to do as much as I am able without getting frustrated, disappointed, or anxious. I'll remind myself that, ultimately, I am on vacation, a well-deserved one at that, and I will carve out some time each day so that I don't forget this simple fact.

So, there you have it. My summer manifesto, of sorts. What's yours?

Posted to The Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life



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