Equation for a Happy Creative Summer

Writing Prompt #9

Happy summer! This writer is doing summer math. Here are the elements of my happiness equation!

To inspire my happy creative summer, the heart represents what I want more of this summer:

• Hosting family and friends in my home.

• Hiking with my husband.

• Dancing in the kitchen with my girl.

• Lingering at the dinner table, bathed in soft light.

• Tending my garden with our new dog beside me.

Next comes reading. Turning pages during sacred times and in special places:

• In the early morning, with a cup of tea, before anyone is awake.

• At the beach with sand between my toes.

• In our trailer after a long Sierra hike.

• In bed, before I close my eyes at night.

I have more books than I can read on my TO BE READ list, all coming from my middle grade and adult summer reading guides.

The third part of my summer happiness equation is writing haiku. If you know me, you know that every season needs some 5-7-5 action.

I’ve prepared a tiny journal that will hold the haiku I’m planning to write this summer (and it’s easily portable for trips, too). I’ll write haiku on the following types of days:

• Full moons.

• 5th of the month (because 5-7-5).

• 7th of the month (because 5-7-5).

• Holidays.

• Birthdays.

• Anniversaries.

• Last days of the month.

These days are already red-letter dates on my calendar and that will give me a routine for writing my poems.

And finally, we come to pocket retreats!

On May 30th, I received Kortney Garrison’s Substack newsletter about Pocket Retreats. These are tiny retreats that fit into the flow of our daily lives. Usually, when I think of writing or reading retreats, they are at least one day long and take a lot of planning and/or money for supplies and hotel rooms.

Pocket Retreats are ever so doable and can be as short as forty minutes in our homes, at the beach, or at Starbucks. Kortney’s post also took me to Charlotte Donlon’s website which has more information that I plan to explore this summer.

I’ll share how this experiment turned out in the fall. Thanks, Kortney for introducing me to Pocket Retreats.

Of course, my math won’t add up if I don’t subtract some stuff too! Here’s what I want LESS of this summer:

• Scrolling social media (I’m officially taking a break from June 22nd to August 15th).

• Checking my phone when I wake up.

• Bringing my phone into the bathroom (well, that’s embarrassing).

• Writing for publication (taking a Substack break until August 15th). I’ll be writing a lot, but just for myself, not thinking about the eyes that read my words.

So that’s it, friends. I think the math adds up perfectly for this beautiful equation:

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Now, it’s your turn. Write a happiness equation for your creative summer.

• What do you want more of? Write a list.

• What do you want less of? Write another list.

• Then, cut out pictures (or draw your own) that represent some of your MORES and LESSES. Glue them on a piece of paper with mathematical symbols between each one.

• Viola! You have an equation you can put on your fridge as a reminder of all that you hope for in this season.

I’ll be back with Substack posts and my delightful social media presence on August 16th when I’ll share my 2024/25 course and retreat offerings. In the meantime, do your math homework! This is a problem you can’t get wrong.