Summer

Five paintings are now in the hands of a very capable framer, and suddenly my studio looks very empty. This brought on the usual cleaning frenzy I get into once something is completed. I probably get way too bothered about disintegrating food in the fridge and a pile of old newspapers, but I am not going to fight it - I need order and calm around me, and while all the tidying and organising may be procrastination, I have come to see it as an important, therapeutic part of my routine. I also baked spelt bread. Between the cleaning and the baking, I feel on top of things.

I slept twelve hours, uninterrupted, last night and the night before, and this worries me a bit, but I am not going to fight that, either. Maybe I just need to slow down. It has been a hectic, turbulent and emotional few weeks, and if I only react by sleeping a lot instead of getting sick, which used to be my response to all sorts of stress, then that's ok.

As much as I like teaching, it's nice to have a break from it, and since it is the only strictly time-structured work I do, I can mostly decide my schedule myself for the weeks ahead. I still wonder whether I actually would benefit from more structure in my life, but I love the freedom I have. It almost feels like my summer has started already.

I don't want to over-plan it, but I have been thinking about how I would like to spend this summer, and there are some plans that need to be made, such as travel arrangements. It will be a mixture of work and play, and thankfully the two often overlap and merge. Most importantly, I want to spend the summer in a way that means it won't just pass me by. That sounds vague and is still quite vague to me. It involves living with the season, doing summer things, eating summer foods, and hopefully spending a lot of time outside. Sleeping less might be necessary! (And it would help if temperatures went above 16 degrees again...)