Summer musings

Summer is here and the weather is humid and warm, but after the blustery winter we've had, I'm not complaining about any of it, not even the smog.  Not even the excessive rain.  No, not even the extra mosquitos and other critters.  I am happy to leave my house without a sweater, and nothing much else matters.

This blissful oblivion, and willed good mood, got me to thinking....what kind of a person would I have been or would I become, if I lived in a different climate, where this 'summer weather thing' is a year round phenomenon.  Don't get me wrong, the four seasons are great and all, but really I could live with seeing spring in a picture and hearing about winter from a friend.  What I need and want is summer.

I have come to the distinct conclusion that I would have a very different outlook on my days and on my life if I lived in a climate that better suited my temperament.

This led me think about other ways I could imagine a new life, a different life.  Not fundamentally different, I love my husband and children and want to spend all my time with them, but different in the superficial, yet also important ways.  What if the house I lived in was different, maybe better suited to me?  What if my job better fit my temperament?  Without getting into a spiral of what if's leading nowhere...I found this exercise to be quite refreshing since it reminded me of what my daughter has been doing a lot of lately...living in her imagination.


The imagination is a great thing when channelled well.  It can lead us out of darkness and it can send us, if we're not careful, right to the depths of despair.  Prayer and a conscious desire to think upward and outward tends to work for me.  It helps me get my imagination in tune with my best self.  Then it becomes a tool for renewal.

So, for the next little while, that's where I'll be...daydreaming in the hot summer sun.  You can join me for a unicorn ride later, for now I'm picturing what I look and feel like in my 'new' digs.

P.S. Here's the long awaited result of the St. Francis craft.  It was a resounding success and still hangs in my office.  Don't mind the plastic hanger...you can decorate your hangers with some nice ribbon.  My kids wanted to focus on the animals and the drawing, which is why I consider this a good one.  It got them to think and do,and that's more important than the result....and isn't that what my thoughts about the imagination are all about anyway: the idea that to imagine something else means we can try new things to get there or somewhere else, but the process of imagining it is the first step and the most important one because who knows where it will lead.

St. Francis, pray for us!