Hello (and goodbye?) Summer

 


I honestly can't believe that it is already August.  The months of June and July have been an absolute whirlwind of ups and downs and lefts and rights.  For me, June was the month that I started my new full time job with The Josh Bersin Company.  I am a client success manager for them, dabbling in sales, client engagement, and marketing.  This role is exciting and fast paced and I am getting to interact and learn from some very senior HR individuals from companies around the globe.  Just last night I was on the phone at 7pm my time to speak to a client of ours in Australia.  I just think that it is super cool to see the reach that our small team has.

Onboarding and getting adjusted to full-time work again took a lot out of me.  Add a busy schedule in the month of July and I feel like I haven't been on top of this blog or even really many of my friendships.  Three of the five weekends in July, I was in NJ with my family.  But, these three weekends were also me hosting a bachelorette party, going to a final dress fitting and then finally the wedding where I was MOH for a good friend of mine from middle school.  Sleep is not something that I was getting a lot of during this time.

Luckily, August should include a bit more down time, including a free weekend coming up and a vacation later on in the month.  I am doing my best to practice what I preach and take care of myself amidst the flux of life around me.  I am also planning a baby shower for my brother and sister-in-law that is happening in two weekends, helping my mother as she is also swamped with work.

I have missed having time to go to the beach this summer.  I feel that I've been severely lacking in sunshine and vitamin D this year, and that honestly makes lots of sense.  Having a new puppy, we've been very careful about making sure that we don't expose the pup to the extreme heat waves that have hit us in MA this summer so far.  Since he's still in that awkward 'teenage' years, his fur is half puppy fuzz and half adult fur, meaning that he can't really regulate his own temperature all that well.  I just ordered that little stinker a puppy pool so that we can have some play time in our side yard on any more hot days that we see this summer.  This means more time outside for both him and I - I call that a win.

The name of the game at this point in life seems to be adaptability.  I find myself answering the question - how can I accomplish more than one task at once?  For instance, with the dog pool - I wanted to get more sun for myself for the health benefits and I also wanted to be able to take the pup outside in a way that he could enjoy and not overheat.  While sometimes this type of planning is good, it can also be all encompassing.  I need to remind myself to take a step back from whatever task is at hand occasionally to take a deep breath or try to find some small thing that I can be thankful for and appreciate.  

I've heard the phrase 'stop and smell the roses' many times and have always struggled with the concept of living in the moment.  Even when I devote conscious effort to this, I find myself reverting back to productivity and typical 'success' factors that I'd use to measure how accomplished my days were.  The title of this post makes me feel a tinge of sadness now, as it seems that more than half of the summer has come and gone and it feels somewhat like a blur.  Yes, there are memories that I can identify, but I mostly remember feeling overwhelmed or stressed.  And frankly, that is just trash.

Weirdly enough, this makes me think of a dog that I have been following on Instagram for a few years (even before I got my own pup).  His name is Scout and he just recently passed away from cancer.  When I saw the post that his owner shared telling his followers that Scout had passed, I couldn't control the tears that formed and fell to my cheeks.  His account and the beautiful words and actions that his owner spread with it have truly been a shining light on many dark days for me.  They taught me to remember my values - especially the idea of spreading kindness wherever you can and holding your loved ones close while they are here.    

On that August vacation that I mentioned earlier, I will get to see friends that I haven't had the chance to see in quite a long time (& we are all vaccinated).  The spot that we are going, a lake in upstate New York, is incredibly special to me as I've been going most years since I was a kid.  I know that this year, with Scout's help, I will be disconnecting from the world to truly spend some quality time with my people (& of course my pup, Puck, who is coming with us).  I want to hug each and every one of them for a good long time.  Hugs are something that Scout was known for and I know that we could all use some of the oxytocin that is released when we are hugged.  There are also more health benefits of hugs that you can read about here.

I posted the image that you see below here on my dog's Instagram account and so have numerous other dog friends.  Scout truly made an impact on many lives and I believe that he will live on in each hug we all give going forward.  I know that the rest of this summer season is going to be filled with intentional pauses and loads of hugs.  So many that people might even get sick of it, but I won't.


-Vicky










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