As we near the end of August, let’s pause.
We in the Northern Hemisphere celebrate this month as somewhat a closure to summer. Perhaps summer provided opportunity to vacation, kick back, play in sunshine or float on water. Perhaps summer was a time of family get togethers, gardening, outdoor adventure or time spent in a hammock with a book. August represents different things to different people, of course, but August aligns with the Five Element Theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine in that it is a time of harvest and fruition. The Element Earth corresponds to this time of year – a time of transition from one season to the next as well as personal grounding and nurturing. The Earth Element is known to be the center of all the Elements and thus the center of our entire year of life experience.
August has long been enigmatic for me. I wait all year for summer to arrive and dread the onset of autumn. When I was a child, August meant getting ready for school. As a mom, August meant losing all that special time with my children as the school year seemed to begin earlier and earlier each year.
But there is another side to this month. All that has gone before it in nature, is thriving and we, as consumers, are reaping the rewards. Though the daylight hours are shortening, the nights are comfortably cooler. Yes, there is new energy to adhere to academic calendars, and for some, sending kids to college has begun, but summer lingers.
Many years ago I was introduced to the European practice of taking the entire month of August as vacation – shops and businesses closed, homes left in quiet as residents flocked to summer cottages. This came about for me when I learned of the ballet by Frederick Ashton, (1976) based on the play by Ivan Turgenev. It is a gorgeous 40 minute or so piece of choreography set to music by Chopin. (If you’d like a glimpse, take a few minutes to watch this video of 2 of my favorite dancers from the Royal Ballet. It will be time well spent! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARbeUw6a3sg)
But, how are YOU? Did your summer evolve as you had wished? We have certainly had our share of ups and downs, haven’t we? Here on the East Coast, dry conditions have proven to be a fire risk. I learned this first hand.
August, often a winding down, was a climax month for me. Ongoing construction on my home continues and though the experience is excellent, it is definitely impactful! Furthermore, I had the uniquely amazing opportunity to travel with my brother. We drove across Maine to the Canadian border, crossed the Bay of Funny by ferry, traveled up the Western Coastline of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and spent a glorious 4 days at Cape Breton. We, of course, enjoyed every inch of driving the famous Cabot Trail over to the Atlantic and back, but it was a rather stunning disappointment to find ALL trails everywhere closed! Since the violation could be a demand of as much as $25,000, I gave that up.
My wish for each of you is that you find ways to enjoy the remaining moments of summer before plunging into a more demanding fall schedule. Of course, many embrace autumn as the ideal season of the year. So be it. In the meantime, I will treasure the warmth of each day keeping one foot grounded and the other preparing to take that next step.
