We are aware that only a part of our planet is experiencing summertime at the moment…that the length of the seasons varies considerably from one part of the world to the other… so how are we to speak to every reality? Once more, Nature can guide us in our reflection. The seasons, in fact, mark the rhythm of our life, they draw our attention to its movements. We have often heard of “the dance of the Seasons”…
“Rythm is breath, the breath of the soul unhindered in its capacity for enjoyment. Going and coming. Breathing in, breathing out”, writes Christian Bobin (Souverainté du vide. Lettre d’or; Ed. Gallimard 1995 p.87).
“Taking time” does not meaning “wasting time”: it signifies, rather, receiving each moment, and being totally present to it: “getting one’s breath back” by making the time one’s own …
Summer offers us the opportunity to make a break with our daily routine, to do things we do not usually do, to stop in order to “receive ourselves” in total openness, and allow our craziest dreams and our deepest desires to resurface, for they are often buried under the multiple pressures that fragment our lives.
Our leisure will take different forms, according to our tastes and our possibilities… Savour our morning cup of coffee in the coolness of the garden…feel one with the universe as it unfolds in all its splendour while contemplating the beauty of the landscape, taste the joy of reading, of walking, of listening to music, take time together as a couple, or with your family, meet your friends, forget the alarm-clock and the late hour…
To take care of oneself, to allow oneself some small pleasures can make us better able to accept the needs of others…
For some, Summer means eating up the kilometres, a change of horizon, going in search of the sun… some warmth…the smell of cut hay…then seeking out those shady corners where it is good to quench one’s thirst…
