The other day we bought our daughter a new backpack, lunch bag and gym bag. She’s entering high school in a few weeks and needs cool-looking new gear, to help her both fit in and stick out, and easily transport her belongings. She was glad to buy these items while there were choices available (you don’t want your backpack to be a colour that you hate) but she wanted us to hide them in the house. Looking at them meant thinking about them, and that meant realizing that summer is nearly over and September is almost upon us.

We discussed how adult life is different. We (most adults) don’t get more than a couple of weeks off during the summer, yet we all like to go into summertime mode. We eagerly jump at a chance to be on the beach, on a patio, in our backyard, in a swimming pool, at a barbecue, near an ocean or mountains … take your pick.

Sure, work still gets done. Often a lot of work gets done. When I was toiling in a newsroom and later in television post production, work simply never stopped. Yet I – and everyone else around me – pounced on any opportunity to leave as quickly as possible at the end of the day. We flipped a mental switch. Somehow it always seemed easier to do this in summer. Continue reading →