Today was the first day of my son's second grade. It was both a joy- he's growing up so fast and a tiny bit of sadness- growing up way too fast!
I was just supremely surprised today by how fast the summer swept by. My son's school generally indicates the beginning of the University term too. We officially begin next week, but we have already started the process of orientations and meetings... another semester, many more stories.
The 2022 summer is perhaps the one I have enjoyed the most since 2013 when we moved to South Africa. Summers are always my favorite season- not just because I have my birthday in the summer, but because of summer vacation- a long enough break that we can breathe. One of the chief reasons for this summer being special was obvious- my parents were here with us in Kansas, but another was that I had time to simply read, relax, travel, and be myself.
I was born with a lust for travel. As a kid, I dreamt of becoming a truck driver traveling with goods throughout India. A minor part of that dream was perhaps realized when I attended grad school at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas. I would drive through prairie grasslands and see rural Kansas for two and half hours daily. It was crazy and one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life.
This summer, we went to the beach, and you can see the photos if you follow my social media accounts. This was my son's first visit to the beach, and we got on a road trip in between, so it was bliss. We also visited many family-friendly places in Kansas city itself. We went to the Science City and the Union Station in KC and our favorite, the KC zoo. We visited the KC plaza and the Prarie Fire Museum in Overland Park.
I saw an advertisement the other day which resonates with me. The ad is perhaps from one of the travel companies- asking viewers what they would regret more when they die- the places they did not visit or the things they did not buy? For me, it's definitely the former- the places not visited. However, I don't think it was just the travels that made this summer so special. It wasn't just my parent's visit but a culmination of small things I achieved or re-lived over this summer that made it so special.
This is why I am back at writing. This summer, the one thing I did for myself was to get back to writing my blog. I started blogging in 2006 when blogging was emerging. We had just brought a desktop computer, and my brother and I were becoming conscious of what the internet could offer. I came across a news article about how blogging and social media change the world. I became intrigued and decided to open an account on Google and started writing.
I loved the fact that through my words, I was able to reach so many people. I still remember the comment from Mongolia on my Arab Spring blog entry. Gosh, it was enthralling. A girl from Kolkata writes about revolutions in faraway Egypt and Tunisia, and someone in Ulan Bator reads that blog and comments on it. How would anyone not be giddy at the possibilities the internet could offer humankind? Alas, it seems that initial euphoria might have been a tad bit misplaced. Anyhow, life intervened, and I stopped blogging for a long time. This summer, I decided to be back again, pursuing my second love, that of writing.
I also did a whole of reading this summer. Of course, I am pursuing a doctoral degree, so I guess reading comes with the job, and I love it. But this summer, I read books like The Filter Bubble by Eli Pariser alongside The Traitor Quen- the second book in The Bridge Kingdom series. I also read two rather nice romances, and I was surprised they still wrote them clean. I also spent quite a bit of money on second-hand books- which I shall probably never read, but hoarding them feels so good. I was sad to see the Friends of Johnson County Library second-hand bookstore close, and I purchased a good amount of books to make myself feel a little less guilty.
So, yes, this summer, I did all of those, but most importantly, I took out time to be myself, to get back to the things that made my life meaningful and put zest into it. Beyond my identities as a mother, wife, daughter, and sister, I am also a reader, a traveler, and a blogger... most of the time, I get lost in embracing the former identities and losing the little bits that make me whole. This summer, I think, I have reclaimed a little bit of myself... I am glad I could still find myself in those identities, and even if for a fleeting summer, I could live again.
