As of July 1st, the year was half over! July 1st is the Wednesday of the annual calendar, it's an annual hump day (stop giggling!), and we'll be on the downslide, smoothly sailing toward the end of the year. Summer will have just begun. The first day of summer arrives on June 21st and lasts until September 22nd.
As children, summer was long, lazy, and school-less. It meant watching TV for hours, swimming, running though sprinklers, and time for exploration. Remember when you were a kid and just a walk around outside led to discovery? A hidden ant colony, a cool-shaped branch that made a great wand, a great rock that perfectly fit the curvature of your body?
Agriculturally, summer is the time between planting and harvesting. It was a time of growth for the seeds planted in spring. The agricultural cycle works like this:
Spring is for planting seeds.
Summer is for growth and maintenance.
Autumn is the harvest, time to reap the rewards of what you have sown.
Winter is a time of death and regeneration. Plants die and await spring again.
Everyone reevaluates goals at the beginning of the year. Remember those 2005 writing goals? Whether you wrote down your goals or simply let them gestate inside your memory, they are there. How close have you come to realizing those goals? Are you half way there? If not, do not loose hope; do not beat yourself up with guilt! The cycle of nature is here to rescue you! I invite you now, at the tail end of spring, the time to plant seeds, to revisit your 2005 writing goals. What have you accomplished and stayed with? What haven't you done? Recommit yourself during this summertime, this time for growth and maintenance. Start turning those goals into reality. How will you grow and maintain your craft this summer? What rewards do you want to reap in autumn?
Nicole Criona is co-owner and creator of http://www.lawritersgroup.com, a worldwide online writers group open to writers of all levels, that mirrors her Los Angeles writers group. Nicole can be contacted at nicole@lawritersgroup.com.