July
Currently, Tennessee is overflowing with tart berries, juicy peaches, and peaches-and-cream corn. Fireflies flicker in the dusk, late sunsets bleed deep orange across the sky, and the feeling of warm pavement beneath bare feet at 11 p.m. spreads an instant smile across my face. I am a summer lover. My heart is so full this time of year from the abundance that surrounds me.
All of this beauty is currently set against a global landscape of both pain and disorder. Many of us find ourselves in a constant juxtaposition, wondering where to place our ever-fractured attention.
We can work diligently to keep either from taking over the real estate in our beautiful brains. We can, if we choose, experience the joy of summer while also carrying a gentle awareness of the sorrow in our world. The key lies in not allowing one to overpower the other.
What we focus on expands within us. Become conscious of how you want to feel. Anxiety over the state of the world 24/7 will leave you depleted. Instead, allow yourself moments of pleasure while still holding space for frustration, concern, or sorrow if you choose. Visit those feelings when needed, but don't live there. Focus on what you can control.
I can control what I consume. I can control who I allow into my life. I can control where I place my attention. When I remember that the only thing I truly have control over is myself, I return to center. Everything else exists largely outside my grasp. Once I remember that, the anxiety threatening to pull me under begins to lose its power.
We came into this existence with only our body and soul, and when we depart, only the soul continues the journey. Nothing else comes along in our suitcase. Not our clothes, cars, homes, family, pets, food, jewelry, or vacations. Our body, our mind, and our soul are what we are entrusted to care for. Take that in.
We can choose to savor the blueberry cobbler or spend five hours scrolling Instagram, absorbing the fears and theories of strangers. Choose wisely.
So swing on a swing. Take a walk through a local garden or forest. Dip your toes in the ocean, lake, river, or pond. Listen to the chatter of birds. Make a wish upon a star. Eat s'mores by the fire pit. Find joy where you can and send a little extra love to our broken world.