Summer Quiet

In her graduation address to the class of ’08 one month ago, Patricia Hampl shared that the “seemingly lazy days of the free imagination encourage the tough habit of reflection, a discipline that sustains a mind willing to accept the new, the unfamiliar, the alien.” As the quieter time of July descends, I find myself thinking about Patricia’s words and how grateful I am that the life cycle of a school year includes closure. And before the next cycle begins there are some days - even weeks – for reflection of a deeper sort. Time to clear one’s mind, time for sifting down to occur, time to imagine without interruption. All this before the exciting time comes to begin again.

In this quiet time, I find myself reading a bit more, having conversations with colleagues about life, not to-do lists, and generally being open to the ideas that sometimes slip in most unexpectedly and in forms more alien than I might admit.

I love this quiet time.