What I did on my summer vacation…
Remember when summer meant long, hot, lazy days delightfully interrupted by s’mores, swimming, and fireflies?
I barely do at this point. Mine has been more like long, hot, productive days of work, work, and more work. I can’t complain too much though. Work is good. Work gives me purpose. Work pays the bills. Work challenges my writing skills. These are things I tell myself to avoid waves of FOMO.
I’ve been writing a lot this summer for work. I never meant to be a writer. Had I known, I definitely would have paid better attention in English class. Instead, I’m learning the hard way. Sure, there’s the kind of writing you do for a blog. But, that’s not really writing, that’s blogging. Then there’s writing like this weekly (mostly, mostly… I know I’ve been gone for a spell) note to you. This is more like writing a penpal, or I guess, thousands of penpals at once (look at my efficiency!).
Then there’s writing for work. This kind of writing requires planning, thinking, a lot of rewrites, self-doubt, and the harsh scrutiny of your client. This is the kind of writing that requires being thick-skinned, hunched over, and patient. I’m getting better at this kind of writing.
This summer hasn’t been ALL about writing for me. This summer I’ve done summery things too. For instance, I went and saw Sylvan Esso at the Greek with my young friend (she’s 30 years old). Three things about that:
1.) We got there as the doors opened and grabbed two of those awesome stone thrones (the “prohedria“) for ourselves. I’ll seriously never be able to go again without sitting in one of those… insta-royalty!;
2.) A crush from over 15 years ago spotted me (sitting on my fancy throne) and came up to say hello. I pretended I was fine with this, and;
3.) The band’s Amelia Meath is so badass. I will be her when I “grow down” (the opposite of “grow up”).
Also, in all fairness, I did have s’mores this summer. SJ had a friend over for a backyard camping adventure and we melted marshmallows on the stovetop. Now, at the end of this week, I’m going to a waterpark near Sacramento with SJ, a friend of hers, and my young friend. It’ll be super hot (over 100 degrees) and I can’t wait to float around the park’s “lazy river.” That’s kind of like swimming.
So, the only thing missing from my summer will be fireflies and we don’t really see those in California…
What have you been up to this summer? Are you going to Burning Man? It’s ok I can handle the FOMO.
