Preparation

Living fully right now

Hi. Welcome to the hot days of summer. Welcome to my first post in a while. I thought I would have more time this summer. I thought I would have more stamina. What I have is time flying by. What we all have is less time than we thought. Less stability, way more crazy. So, here’s what I’m noticing.

Preparation is this amazing concept that converts our doing of something into stages. You have to prepare to make a meal. You have to prepare to go out to the market. Preparation is part of everything. It’s definitely part of making work you do look effortless. Here’s the definition:

prep·a·ra·tion

/ˌprepəˈrāSH(ə)n/

noun

the action or process of making ready or being made ready for use or consideration.

"the preparation of a draft contract"

also, a substance that is specially made up and usually sold, especially a medicine or food.

When I think about preparation or being prepared for an event, I like that feeling it brings me. I like that sense of knowing what I need, and gathering those elements together. It doesn’t matter if I’m preparing a meal, to take a photo, or maybe to go out for a run or a hike. Preparation brings up all sorts of related ideas like organization, dedication, and training. To be prepared is to put elements together.

This week I’m preparing for the end of summer by taking advantage of every moment that is this summer. I’m waking up early to get in my exercise before the sun beats down my drive. I’m charging my camera batteries so I can be ready for any project or creative desire that might arise. I’m filling the house with staples so I can cook for visitors on a dime. I’m watching the garden, harvesting cucumbers and watermelons; harvesting those items that are natural to the season and beating the heat. At every turn I prepare for health, a bit of adventure, for making this season the best it can be while dealing with its sheer force, its seeming will.

There is a rhythm to the deepest part of summer and it is both incredibly active and kind of sleepy. It’s an extreme time of year, no less extreme than the deepest, darkest and coldest days of winter. Summer is not all about fun in the sun, it’s about taking the sun as it comes and preparing yourself to retreat into cooler spaces, into slower activities.

Retreat is part of preparation, and it’s not the same as giving up. Retreat is part of the give and take that makes life flow. You allow the sun to rule your plans because it’s a life-giving star that is older and as far as sheer nuclear magnitude goes, bigger than you are. It’s smart to retreat for parts of the day, to use that extreme power to your advantage. Admitting your tiny place in the world allows you say yes and no to invitations, and it let’s you jettison guilt. No, you do not have to hike that path at 2PM. That’s not brave this summer, dear, it just means you have to plan more, prepare way more. Do you want to work that hard just to survive your leisure time?

Preparation is a game of mental and physical actions that culminate into a bigger action, fulfilling some kind of plan. Preparation is one way to help avoid frustration. It’s a way to be strategic about life even if you’re not thinking that you need a strategy. Prepare a garden and you’ll get to eat the fruits. Prepare your mind and you’ll be able to hear good advice, or make your own good decisions. Prepare and life will be easier. It will still be life.

Life is full of surprises. Yesterday I found a watermelon that I had walked by dozens of times while tending the garden. Finally I saw it, and had to spend a few moments pulling it out of the concrete path where it had grown and wedged itself. It’s the biggest one we have here. It’s a gift: one that was planned for in a general way but that I hadn’t anticipated in that specific spot. It’s a fruit on the path. It’s a wedged in bit of promise that just needed some rocking out of its hidden location.

Right now something you prepared for is going to surprise you. Hopefully with a little bit of excitement, and some minimal effort you can get the most of that surprise.

I’ll let you know how it goes with that watermelon and some of the other surprises I’m working with very soon. Please feel free to drop a comment on what is surprising you or what you prepared for that went exactly to plan.

Extreme summer love to all of you! I’ll be back your inbox in a couple of days.

SOME LINKS -

Everything Bagel lovers - you can’t get or bring poppy seeds to South Korea

I’m making this - Baked grains with halloumi and cucumbers (because halloumi cheese is delicious and you can cook it)

I’m also making tons of agua fresca with hibiscus tea (body refrigerant!), and watermelon, but I’m also lazy so I don’t strain it. If I had guests I would. Where this recipe does tulsi, I do hibiscus, but you, do you.