Beyond Summer

Summer is a gift in our corner of the world and nothing restores the soul quite like a walk at 9 at night with the sun still suspended in the evening sky like it’s been pinned there just for you or lazing around the campfire preparing the perfect s’more. My personal favourite is watching dragon flies hover and then dive bomb like Apache helicopters on vengeful manic missions to destroy the mosquito masses – sorry, I got carried away a bit there.

Have you ever wondered how and why this happens? I’m not asking why we afford ourselves of the opportunity to binge on the bounty our revolving seasonal reality provides. “How’s your summer been” becomes the ubiquitous opening line in conversations that arise as we make our way back to work, bump into each other in the hallway or around coffee machines and water coolers. There is an expectation that something is captured in this season that may elude us the remainder of the year. The questions remains however – is it reasonable to expect that it is enough to sustain us beyond summer?

I don’t bring this up now in some sort of attempt to snap us back into the reality that Christmas is coming. Sorry for that! We are Canadian and we get it and if you are new to Canada – welcome to our great city and country. You should be commended for your choice and I can’t wait to meet you but regretfully this wont last.

So is “it” enough? Perhaps the more pressing issue is; what is the “it” ? I really don’t believe “it” is warmer weather, camping, fishing, golf, long walks, picnics or whatever you find yourself doing more of in this season that you don’t, cant or won’t do in February. I strongly suspect that what this does to us and in us is bring some sense of inner equilibrium that we desperately need. You could say it quenches a thirst or scratches an itch we were not aware of until it sneaks up and makes its presence readily apparent.

We all desperately need balance in our lives whether we know it or not and summer provides the opportunity of an elixir for the malady of imbalance we gravitate towards. But even if one lived in a perpetually summer-like environment all the necessary conditions for internal imbalance still exist. Nature teaches us this consistently: water the lawn it grows, forget to water the Petunias and they die, walk the dog and she is content, get some sun and you feel better. I contend a balanced life increases our capacity to enjoy the gift of seasonal variety and change to an even greater degree.

I have a certain perspective as one who advises and challenges people in their spiritual lives and growth but also believe firmly that true balance is a mufti-faceted issue that can only be addressed in holistic ways. This is the old issue of what you put in will determine what you get out and we all need consistency when it comes to the “in” because life never stops taking “out”.

We all are in need of “in”put in our relational, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual selves. Our seasons may create some impediments at times but they are not insurmountable nor should we see them as restrictive or constrictive. Let’s use different phraseology like opportunity, possibility or potentiality beyond summer. You get the idea.

Until next time….

Twitter: @barryjmcleod

Email: mail@barryjmcleod.com