Leland and I used the school walkways to burn off some calories, and enjoy a different neighborhood. As I walked around the sport fields, it took me back to Summer days of my childhood.

I attended a two story country school. There wasn’t a kindergarten, just first through sixth grade. Fourth, fifth and sixth grades upstairs; first, second, and third grade downstairs. Until I went into the third grade there was a REAL school bell that would signal the beginning of school, lunch time, and the end of the school day. I remember how impersonal that loud buzzer was when it replaced the old school bell, but as the year went by you forgot what that bell even sounded like.

 I remember the many Park and Recreation activities we enjoyed all Summer long at the school. There were crafts, a big trampoline, a recreation center with an old piano. There were park workers who brought their guitars and taught the kids camp songs. Whoever showed up that day could be on the baseball teams, or play volleyball together. We didn’t have fees to pay, no team uniforms, or scheduled teams to play with. You brought your sack lunch, and spent from 9:00 to 5:00 Monday through Friday there.

The parents who had smaller kids would add to the number of adults around during the day.

The school of my childhood was the center of my life all year. It was always being used. I remember a women’s organization used it during the week night, as well. In July the fireworks were fired off in the middle of the field, and the community set up tables for a picnic, and enjoyed a community concert. Wonderful times, and memories of when life was slower and less complicated.

I recognize that those days are gone, but there are some things we can learn from those experiences. In our fast paced and stress filled life today, where we spend our time commuting, working, in daycare, on our cell phone, and connected to our friends through the Internet, we loose the memory of who and what we are. We become dependent upon Prozac, and Ambien to make us feel better during the day, and sleep at night.

More and more people are beginning to question what is happening to us? They want to find a way to add some element of earlier times into their hectic daily life. The good news is that of course you can. It doesn’t mean it will be easy, but you can do it.

Start by turning off all I phones, MP3 players, for a period of time during your day. Take your kids to the local playground and relax with them. Feel the breeze on your face, and really listen to the laughter and contentment in your child, as they play and run around. Do check in to see if there are any Park and Recreation Services available in your community, and try to do some volunteering, if they need a helping hand.

The minimum you can do is try to find a spot that you can reconnect with your inner self, and renew and refresh your spirit. Meditation and solitude is wonderful for rejuvenating and energizing your life. Remember, that is what those Summer days of my childhood were really doing. They are a powerful image to me, because I can at times return there when I need time to disengage from my hectic life, and remember who I am. May you figure out some way to rejuvenate your life, and relax and meditate. Until later...Colleen

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Copyright  2008     Leland Pulley