summer bummers and carpe diem.

Now, I’m officially a summer bum.

After regularly tromping to church during last week’s frenetic mishmash of Lenten hustle and bustle that culminated in colorful Easter fireworks, I’m once again back to my usual vacation self – sluggish, torpid, taking time to smell the flowers one day at a time, as languorous and unhurried as the pace of living in this city.

Perhaps it’s just the unbeatable heat taking its toll on me, or maybe it’s really my unknowingly switching to super-sloth mode that satisfactorily did the explaining on why it took me at least half an hour to lift my lazy frame off the bed and another additional hour to finish breakfast and hit the showers.

Pardon me. Some days can just go pretty nauseatingly slow.

For obvious reasons though, “slow” does present a much-welcomed change for someone who was previously stuck to a hype-and-hysteric lifestyle for three months, a payback period for worn-out med wannabes drained to the bones of vim and verve. Out of the corner of my mind’s eye there I was, all spent and stressed and anticipating a nice long respite as vehemently as a weary traveler yearning for an oasis. With these things coming to pass, I am bent on reminding myself that now is the time to reap the fruits one has sown, to replenish a long-gone sleep account temporarily remedied by loans in the form of bit-sized cat naps, extra helpings of go foods and trendy high energy drinks.

Still, that’s only looking at one side of the issue.

Before I find myself dangerously falling into the clasps of one of the seven capital sins and get myself severely chastised for it, I take heed to remember that summer is also the perfect time for living out “carpe diem”: for seizing the day and taking it as far as you can go; that is, out of bedroom confines and into the deepest recesses of this world.

For my part, I may not even come close to conquering Everest (Go RP Team!) or swan-diving into the benthic abyss of the Marianas Trench, but in my own little way, this translates to making do with whatever I could, whenever and wherever I could. Before the big break formally kicked in and restored our former spirits to properly kick ass in return, I had made a shortlist of things that I expected to accomplish during the period. With a bit of wishful thinking, I am expecting that by the onset of another grueling school year I could at least brag to have had given some justice to the concept of “carpe diem” in that I was able to aptly turn my two-month long sabbatical into a myriad assortment of worthwhile tasks, to wit:

• Actively take part in Holy Week activities (Been there, done that)
• Visit relatives and former teachers (These people really matter)
• Take guitar lessons (The acoustic virus is just way too irresistible)
• Spend more time at our store (It’s a family responsibility)
• Hit the beach and the great outdoors (Hey, what’s summer for?)
• Have another major class reunion (There’s nothing like reliving good old memories)
• Read, read, read!!! (So far I am on my third book in two weeks)
• Write, write, write!!! (This blog’s enough evidence, I guess)
• Further explore cyberspace (We’re not called a world of push buttons for nothing)
• Just relax (Need I explain?)

Well, so much for plans. As mentioned, I am keeping my fingers crossed right now in the hope that somehow they’d go a little farther than being mere Midsummer Night’s Dreams. But kidding dreams aside, I do believe the summer experience with the greatest “carpe diem” effect on me came from last year’s novel stint on tutoring public school children. Indeed it was an experience like no other, and I have treasured it so much I am saving my next post for a recollection of my thoughts and opinions on it as well as of the wonderful things it has taught me.

Now that’s what I call passing Summer 101 with flying colors.