Trips in still or moving water under the hot sun. Visits in farms where fruit trees are heavy with their fruits. The hot sun burning your skin and the clear blue sky. TV programs and noon time shows are celebrating summer by doing summer trips and tours. These are the things I remember about summer. March is over and April is here, yet many people probably did not feel the change in season. I also did not feel it until the 25th of March, 2021. I am used to the cues that the humankinds are showing to signify summer. The Panagbenga festival in February and strawberry festival in March, these are my cues that reminds me of summer. The end of school year in my highschool days is also an indicator that summer is near. It is the time where people can take a break and experience nature when the energy of the sun is at its peak. This pandemic removed the cues that I am used to. It probably did the same thing to you, you probably forget how you prepared for trips during this season.
The old cues are gone and it may take some time before they come back, but let us not forget about summer. I started noticing the cues of the nature that was replaced by manmade cues. The insects sang louder and often visit me in my sleep. There are more birds than usual and they usually play around a nearby log. Flowers everywhere bloomed and pollinators visited my garden. I watch the sunlight hit the leaves of the trees and it emitted a golden green color. This is the summer that I remember when I was still in elementary. It was the time when I am not familiar with human cues that reminded me of summer.
It is important that we feel the change in season to remind us that summer is energy. Summer is a time for new beginnings. Summer helps me create a marker that that makes me feel the passing of days and months. This pandemic made me forget time and did not realize how time fades away. Summer is energy and the sun is giving of all its heat to energize everyone. The plants and animals feel it, and they welcome the sun and use its energy to produce their best fruits and flowers of the year. In other parts of the world, it is their spring where plants start to grow and bear flowers. In the Philippines, it is the time where we can look for the things that we love the most and start doing them. We can start a new hobby such as candle making or learn to dance. It feels like I can use the energy of the sun to improve myself and relax my soul so that I can face the upcoming months with renewed strength. You may live in a cemented and concrete city but you can still feel the sun’s energy. A short sunbathing in the morning will help you experience summer. A cold bath can also help remind you of the beauty of summer.
We may no longer experience the things that we used to know but we can create new memories and experiences. In the book Ikigai by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles, it made mention of the impermanence of things. It said that we can only enjoy the present moment. Every summer is different and it is up to us to make it special every time. It is not too late to feel the energy of summer and create new experience for this season. Summer can be a a small time shared with family or loved ones. Summer can be a simple alone time, revisiting an old hobby or discovering a new one. Summer can be a time to plant a grass, flower, succulent, or any legal plant in a small pot. A microgreen dish can also work when you want a small patch of happiness that do not require a big space such as the window sill or kitchen counters. A late night coffee under the clear sky is also summer. What is important is that you enjoy the change of season in your own way to remind you of the passing of time.
The human activities may have changed, but the earth and it’s season is still almost the same. We should not try to repeat what we had before the pandemic, instead use this overwhelming energy to start new and enjoy this world in a new perspective. It will not be easy and I am sure that it will be difficult to change our mindset. We should live today as it is and not dwell on the past and think of what has been. This is part of the ikigai, finding the beauty on what is present in this moment. It is up to you to create new cues to remind you of the passing of seasons and time. Find new activities that will make each season memorable. What we used to have no longer applies and creating a new one is exciting and scary at the same time.
Thank you for reading my lengthy post.
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