Bernadette Benda

Summer 2020 sucked. Summer 2021 has sucked in its own way too, not least because of the constant cycle of disasters world over and the stream of bad news. Though we may not have had murder hornets this year, we did have people trying to convince us to eat cicadas.

The amount of creativity I’ve had this summer feels like it has been at a historic low. I won’t site all the reasons which will both bore you and soak up your valuable time. But I will say: what’s the fun with summer once you’re out of school and there’s no such thing as summer break?

Though I graduated high school uh…five years ago (I’m OLD), I joined a ballet company right off the bat and the seasons basically revolved around the school year. Summer was always “off” time, a long needed break from a year packed full of rehearsals and performances.

Covid (ew, I hate the word) changed all that. The whole structure of 2020 was broken and weird, and this year has been no different.

So what’s summer if you don’t have a “summer break”?

Yes, there are jobs that revolve around the school year, but what about us with year long jobs? What does summer become? You’re still just as busy, but now with longer days and warmer weather, and possibly vacations.

This blog was supposed to be about writing. Whoops.

(Ok, pause: I’m listening to Spotify and they keep playing this commercial for baseball games and they say, “where a homerun is a perfect excuse to hug a stranger”. UM WHAT. IT’S STILL A PANDEMIC. YOU CAN’T JUST SAY THAT. Alright I’m done.)

So somehow I gotta get this blog back on track. Writing. Summer. Creativity. Here we go.

Nature goes to sleep in the winter, but I think I go to sleep in the summer. And maybe that’s what summer should be. A creative recharge. It’s a good time to read books, a good time to go places and see things and people, a good time to step back from projects and step outside instead.

(I say this as I’ve been sitting inside all day desperately trying to get stuff done but not having much success. Oh well.)

If you are someone inspired by summer, show me your ways. This summer I feel like I’ve had the attention span of a sparrow. Throw me a peanut and I’ll look at it for a second before turning to some other speck on the sidewalk.

I don’t mean this to be a whole “woe is me” blog, just need to get stuff off my chest. Actually, what I need to do is write. Write something, anything. And if that’s something is my complaining about summer, then so be it.

Because even if this summer has been slacking in creative inspiration, I still need to write. Writing is a muscle, and muscles need to be worked if you want them to be bigger and stronger. So that’s what I’m doing. Working my muscle.

Ok did I work it enough? Am I done now? How about now? Ok I’m done. *drops dumbbells on floor*