How do I write about a familiar summer theme without sounding too cliché, or boring? That’s my dilemma this week and yet, there is something about the topic that feels sufficiently relevant to plod ahead.
Plodding is actually an appropriate word. It’s how I’ve felt the last few weeks if not the last few months. While some people manage the intersection of heat, humidity, and haze well, I do not. I never have.
- Humidity’s “wet blanket” feeling takes its toll on my typically active sense and execution of self.
- Haze wraps summer’s expected breezy blue sky in gauze. Clouds do not move and neither do I.
In essence, humidity and haze stop me in my tracks. It’s curious though because the third “H” – heat—does not bother me as much. To 107 degrees in Phoenix, I say “bring it on.”
To “weather –strip” means to seal openings. It occurred to me that the opposite – creating openings or opportunities — might be necessary if we want to learn broader lessons about our relationship to a 3H “climate:”
- Humidity is simply the meteorological expression of a weight on our system that reduces our capacity.
- Haze is simply the meteorological expression of stagnation that impairs our forward movement.
Heat, however, is the meteorological expression of energy in the atmosphere and energy is what’s needed to propel us forward. Ironically, I think that an increase in our personally- or professionally-cultivated “heat” represents the outcome of another intersection of “H’s” — namely the head, the heart, and the hands. I think we are potentially at our best when we are firing from these three cylinders and the behaviors they’ve come to symbolize: thinking (head), feeling (heart), and doing (hands).
My question therefore shifts to “how” – how does one build energy or heat under the threat of “wet blanket” and “gauze” conditions — induced naturally or otherwise? Unlike the cold front which sweeps through with a deep breath, and leaves in its wake, lighter and clearer air, breakthroughs in our work and home environments typically are not forecast nor do they hit with such immediate impact. So…it’s our job to attend to our own professional or personal barometer and re-calibrate our thoughts, feelings, and actions at the first elevated reading of sluggishness, flatness, numbness, idleness,. The key is to “stretch” to the point of head, hand, or heart “burn.” Some broad ideas that come to mind include:
- Creating regular opportunities for learning
- Executing regularly on untapped “work” or “home” passions
- Engaging regularly in new “doing”
Seasonally speaking, I know that I will breathe a sigh of relief when September arrives. While the weather will offer a reprieve, I also realize that I’m never completely off the hook when it comes to these matters. If you agree, consider the following:
- What situations create the “wet blanket” or “gauze” (e.g. heavy or stagnant) condition in your life?
- What specific “symptoms” do you experience?
- How have you or do you wish to treat those symptoms?
- What challenges and benefits do you anticipate?