The Best Summer...so far

Hiking.  Beaches (lake and ocean).  Outdoor concerts.  Outdoor parties.  Waterfalls.  Good friends. Fruits from my garden.  Mint from my garden (in mojitos).  Yoga.  Outdoor dining.  Sultry thunderstorms.  Magical rainbows.  Visits with my kula. Visits with my family.  A trip to the California coast.  Art shows.  Farmers Markets.  Belly laughs.  Open heart.  All in all it has been an AMAZING summer.  I believe it has been my best summer ever.  Some days are so full of uplifting activities I feel as if I were wringing out the day to catch every last drop of energy and essence. The more I do the more my heart is full and my smile is wide.  Here's an even more amazing part- the summer isn't over yet.  I have more hikes, more waterfalls, more beaches, an eclipse, more yoga, more family time, more parties, more outdoor dining, more belly laughs, and more open heart to go.  Did I mention work?  Yeah, 3 days a week I do work.  That's just so I can appreciate the play of my summer even more.  The curtains are open and my heart is open wide.  I'm even more creative- have you noticed there are more blogs these days?  I feel the sun in my heart and happiness fills me up.  It is if I could almost explode.  It's bliss.  There is even a sanskrit mantra, Gayatri, that describes how one feels in the presence of the sun.  "We meditate on that glorious light of the divine Surya (Sun), may he, the lord of light, illuminate our minds".  Everything is open and alive.  Presence is everywhere.

Yet in the back of my mind is a tiny achy doubtful feeling.  The sun there is small.  It's as if a cloud has come in and a chill is in the air.  In the back of my mind are the thoughts of summer ending.  Like Yin/Yang, the sun of Yang disappears and the darkness of Yin appears.  Such dramatic differences those 2 have!  The sun and openness of Yang disappear behind the darkness and concealing Yin.  And so I am terrified.  Terrified for what my winter will bring.  Knowing that life isn't always sunshine and unicorns I'm fretful that my winter will be a doozy of a bad time.  Oh, and 'Thoughts become things' right?  So this tiny achy doubtful feeling that's blossoming into fretful thoughts is going to burst into an actual bad thing?!  Oh f*ck.

If I compare my summer to a hike (and why not, I'm hiking a few times a week these days) I see the spring as the uphill climb.  Summer is the summit of the mountain.  Right now I am coasting, not yet going downhill.  For those of you familiar with the Millcreek Canyon in Utah we're on the pipeline trail now, not going up or down just coasting and enjoying the amazing views.  We are not headed outward toward the lookout anymore however.  Now we're headed back.  Soon we will be headed down the mountain (but not too soon- yet the days are ending a bit earlier and the sun creeps into my window a wee bit later every day).  Fall and winter will be that hike back down.  I will be facing different challenges and shorter and darker days.  I naturally turn inward during these times.

As the fall approaches (but not too quickly please!) I think about the coming months.  How do I want to spend my time?  How can I change those thoughts so that they become different things, even joyous things?

I know skiing is coming.  Okay skiing is coming in 4 months (I know, crazy right?  Snow in 4 months?  It was 98 today!)  I've already put 'buy the season pass' on my calendar.  I'm forcing myself out the door this winter.  I love skiing- it's true, I just haven't blogged about it.  Yet.  

Then there's the shoulder season.  What will I do with my fall when the leaves are down and the days are dark?  Can I find new activities before skiing commences?  I signed up for a yoga training weekend.  I need to plan my next vacation.  The one over the Christmas/New Year holiday is too far away.    I saw an advertisement for belly dancing classes.  I have a stack of books that are calling my name (albeit a virtual stack).  I have that Udemy course I bought but never started.  I need to find ways to fill my heart when the sun isn't strong enough to do so.

I think that may be the key- knowing I need to find ways to fill my heart.  While I've never had a summer this good I often slip into the fall without being more conscious of what is happening and before long I'm a ball under my covers waiting for the days to start getting long again and the sun to warm my skin.    Albus Dumbledore once said (through the pen of JK Rowling), "Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light".   The winter won't be all sunshine and unicorns- I know that.  But I get to make the choice for it to be something heart filling and creative.  I get to set myself on a path of discovery for what creates positive energy for me.  I also get to dream.  To dream of the sunny days, hikes, waterfalls, beaches, farmers markets, and outdoor concerts.  Because this summer I set the bar pretty high and I'm ready to take it even higher.