Summer Before the Shoulds
A Plant Connection Club invitation to an intentional summer
I’ve been pondering the opportunity of summer - maybe you have too. Nicer weather to get out and enjoy Nature, especially with our plant friends. I still get excited about the coming and start of summer, probably the inner kid in me! The idea of freedom from responsibility and just so much opportunity.
And yet, like Spring when the weather turns nice and we gear up to start gardening, foraging and seeing all our plant friends return, it is possible to try and cram too much in.
So I’m thinking about an Intentional Summer - and have been pondering - what to include, what to let go? How not to try and cram it all in.
The great thing is - the season is just beginning, and we don’t have to decide it all now.
Just ponder. What would be fun and bring joy without burden?
A Practice I’ve Been Pondering
One small practice I’ve been considering is a morning garden wander at the start of the day. With so much work to do on the herb farm at the busy start of summer, it would be nice to just wander and connect with the plants without intention (harvest, weed, water, etc.). I used to enjoy a nice wander (link to Grow Em to Know Em?) and have gotten out of that practice. Maybe it’s time to return to it.
It was so funny that this practice had come up from my intuition as something to consider as a practice for summer. One of my friends, who is a nutritionist, sent an email to her list about her morning routine. While she share the caveat that not everything in her routine would be a good fit for all of us on her email list, I enjoyed & appreciated two things about her email. First, that she offered “take what resonates and leave the rest” and that she had some time in her morning routine where she wandered outside for a bit with her dog while feeding her cat & chickens
And that she did all of this before the “Shoulds” of the day set in. These were first morning things that she engaged in before sitting down to read email and the day gets away with all the things that “should” be done.
Ah ha! I felt so validated, and it made my inner self clap her hands with glee – The Universe was confirming what she had already shared with me – that getting outside first thing in the morning would provide something that would fill me up before the rest of the day starts to pull my attention.
A Little Gentle Structure
So how might you go about finding your thing for an Intentional Summer?
I’ve already seen punch cards, side quest suggestions, bucket lists, etc. on social media for the summer.
Like New Year’s Resolutions though, I feel like those can backfire for me. Too much structure and I feel bad if I don’t accomplish it all. On the other hand, too little structure and it can be easy to just get sucked into one or two activities (reading or scrolling – anyone else?). And before long summer is more than half over, and the hazy dreams I had at the start have been set aside.
So how to find a balance between allowing for serendipitous experiences that pop up out of nowhere, and some gentle structure and support to get out and about every once in a while?
Enter Summer Plant Connection Side Quest cards!
I made three: one for everyday noticing wherever you are, one for garden time, and one for wild wandering — pick whichever fits your day (or grab all three!).
These are not meant to be forceful or make you feel lacking if you don’t check them all off. Instead you can look at them and hopefully feel inspired to give one of the activities a try as you go about your regular day. Like little side quests for plant connection through the summer.
They are meant to support noticing – helping you create a smidgen of space in your days, for just a moment or two for plant connection.
Feel free to print these out, color them in, and give some of them a try. Stick stickers on the boxes of the activities you do, and put an X through any that don’t feel fun or aligned (if you’ve got the creative energy, substitute something else that comes up – adapt, change and shift just like the plants!).
As you complete any of these, please share which ones you did – I love to hear about your experiences. The stories that come out of small & simple Nature and Plant Connection can be meaningful in lovely, quiet ways. If you snap a photo along the way, feel free to share a Note – I'd love to see what you notice!
Enjoy!
As I harvest early in the morning I may be "working" but I'm also convening with plants, birds, bunnies and whatever nature has going on. Often the best part of the day