By Kimine Mayuzumi
“How was your summer?”
This is a question you may be asked by your friends, colleagues, and neighbors this time of the year. But have you really asked yourself the question?
Oftentimes, it is hard for me to transition from summer mode to work mode unless my kids go back to school. When they are around, I tend to get distracted and procrastinate. So I create boundaries by going downstairs and putting on headphones and try to focus on my own work work. However, mentally, I feel something is still missing for me to really move on.
At the beginning of the summer, I was eager to envision and plan my summer using the Summer Planner that I had introduced in another blog post. So now that it’s already the end of August, “what was my summer like?” is a question that automatically appears and occupies the back of my head. Yes, what was missing was to reflect on the summer properly, in writing.
Since I couldn’t find many resources for grown-ups to do summer reflection (I found quite a few for school kids), I needed to make a resource sheet so that I could do it with my family. Below is the resource sheet for summer reflection that I created.
Four of us, my partner, two kids (ages 12 and 7), and I, sat together at our dining table and filled up our respective sheets on Wednesday afternoon. Our kids’ schools will start next Monday. It was great timing for us to share our reflections and talk about them together. It created laughters and another shared moment among us.
What was interesting was, while our son complained in June that he would be bored this summer without traveling internationally, he actually found it quite fulfilling and fun at the end. That is what he wanted – to have fun. He took a look back at his Summer Planner he filled in after working on his reflection. He found out that he did complete many of what he wanted to do to have fun – going to an art camp, playing outside, practicing soccer, going to Detroit, going camping, etc.
Mine? I think all the feelings that I wanted at the end of the summer are here with me in one way or another. For example, going on a camping trip with my family allowed me to feel connected, adventurous, fun, and present/mindful.
On the resource sheet, there are six sets of questions you can ask yourself. I explain each of them as follows.
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When thinking of the summer as a chapter of my book, what would be the title? Or what are the three words that describe/summarize my summer?
A hint here is that you can skip this question first and answer it last – after working on the other questions. I still placed the question first so that when you look back at the sheet in the future, it is nice to see the title or the three words you came up with to summarize the summer for the first thing.
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What are my top 5 most memorable activities/incidents/moments this summer? And why? – how did it make me feel?
This question forces you to feel it again by asking why you chose the particular activity/incident/moment as one of your top five. A lot of the times, a memory stays in us because of the emotional and mental state that it caused or accompanied.
I suggest you come up with your top five so that you will think hard to be selective. But, of course you can write down more than five. I had six and my other family members had seven or eight as well.
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Have I encountered any challenges? If so, what are they?
This is also a question that implies that the summer is not only for fun but also it could bring hardships too. It also leads you to be compassionate to yourself for the challenges you faced and be affirming for yourself who overcame/survived with.
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What are the reminders/messages to myself next summer?
The answers to this question would help you when you plan your next summer. Oftentimes, we forget all the details by the time the next summer comes. So this is for recording the message to yourself in the future.
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Who and/or what am I grateful for when reflecting on the summer?
A gratitude list like this always helps you to be open and motivated to move on to the next phase.
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What do I want to do to transition from the summer mode to the next phase?
Honestly, both of my kids couldn’t answer this question. That is okay. I kept this question so that anybody who is aware of their transitional phases can be more intentional about the shift by answering the question and taking the action.
Let’s reserve even just 15 minutes to have reflection time. It would be a nice closure. Here is the 2-page resource sheet that you can fill and/or print out.
I wish you a nice smooth start of the new academic term/year!
Resource Sheet last modified on August 24, 2020
Featured Image by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash