Summertime surrender

“I do not save time, I spend it. Time is the one thing you cannot save. Time is spent without even trying. Don't save time, use the time that you have wisely.” –Danielle Bath, caregiver and mother of three.   

Sixty seconds is all it takes to recharge, get an energy boost, or mentally, emotionally, and physically repair. At HerSelf First, “Make Friends with Time” is one of our Four Ingredients for Harmony, the four essential principles all moms/women/caregivers need to sustain their long-term wellbeing. As such, we created My Minute, a regular tip segment that offers easy ways to make your daily minutes work for you. The last thing anyone needs in our busy, over-scheduled, overly plugged-in lives are tasks added to our days. My Minute reinforces a model of working with the given time we all have over the course of the day to, ultimately, broker a new relationship to time that helps us to nurture and enhance our wellbeing.    


This week’s My Minute: Summertime Surrender  

Summertime is a season when schedules shift, priorities adjust, and the world literally seems a bit lighter. Yet many of us insist on plowing through these lackadaisical months at our usual break-neck pace, and before we know it the leaves are tinged with orange and the familiar rush and hurry routines of our busy lives are back in play. Why not try a different approach? This season, surrender to the natural rhythms and cues of summertime to recoup your energy, reengage with your friends and family, and reinvest in your well-being.


Play in the Rays: For those of us who would mainline that sunshiny Vitamin D if possible, the longer daylight hours are definitely a plus. Take advantage of those precious post-five-o’clock-punch-out rays by serving dinner in the backyard, patio or deck. Leave the laundry folding and other chores. Kick off your shoes and get outside.

Photo courtesy of S. Moeschen

Get in the Kiddie Pool: Not literally, or, o.k. maybe, go for it! By this, I mean, take a cue about summertime surrender from your kids. For them, every day is a blank canvas rife with endless possibilities. Play more, laugh a lot, be silly, take naps, have ice cream for lunch, spend more time simply spending time.


Lighten Up!: Everything about summer—longer, hotter days, lush blooms, leafy trees, lulling water scapes, open-toed shoes and lighter clothing—screams at us: “Slow down! Relax! Lighten Up! for Pete’s sake! Let’s not make her yell at us so much; lie on the grass, laze in the pool, ditch the sandals and walk barefoot on the beach. Surrender to summer.


About Dr. Sheila C. Moeschen, PhD. Sheila Moeschen is the Director of HerSelf First, a program sponsored by Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy that helps caregivers invest in their wellbeing on a regular basis. She holds an Interdisciplinary PhD. in Theatre & Gender Studies from Northwestern University. Her research and writing has appeared in Women’s Studies Journal, Disability Studies Quarterly, and The Huffington Post. She resides in Boston.