I hope you haven’t tired of hearing about our ‘Embrace the Wild’ summer reading theme, because I have one more post about it for you.
In preparing for an upcoming storytime video I’m doing, I discovered the book Wild Peace, written by Irene Latham and illustrated by Il Sung Na. This book encourages readers to connect with peaceful wilderness or nature when life feels too hectic.
When we were coming up with the Summer Reading theme, we really wanted to encourage embracing the wilderness and the wildness of ourselves, embracing the wild frantic feeling of reading as much as you can, and embracing the wild carefree fun of the summer months.
But, in all of this program promotion, I think we neglected to include the wildness of slowing down, of embracing a sort of wild peace within ourselves.
I’ll speak personally for a moment: I do not know how to take a break.
I currently sit on four boards/committees outside of my day job. I’m active with my church, I host monthly art nights with friends, and my summer is already full of movies, concerts, events, and car shows.
My life is already pretty wild. I’ve embraced it.
Maybe you’re like me and your life is already pretty wild.
Maybe – like me – you need to embrace wild peace.
We live in a culture that is busy. We have constant access to entertainment, information, and news. We’ve turned hobbies into hustle culture, and we often ask, “what do you do?” when we meet someone new before we ask, “how are you?”
I know for me; I spend a lot more of my time scrolling so that I don’t “miss anything” than I ever did before. I fill my time with stuff so that I don’t miss out on experiences or opportunities.
But I have found that I am missing something – I’m missing just being. I’m missing out on learning about myself and experiencing my inner thoughts. And yes – sometimes the thought of just being alone with myself and my thoughts sounds scary (as anyone else with OCD can attest to – perhaps a topic for another time), but what is more wild than embracing the things that scare you?
Embracing wild peace still aligns with the spirit of Summer Reading. I’m embracing the wilderness, not through intensive hikes or long camping trips that take a lot of time and planning, but simply by sitting on my porch and watching the birds.
I’m embracing the wildness of myself by reflecting more. Meditation, mindfulness, art, and writing have all helped me with that.
I’m embracing reading – but I’m choosing quality over quantity. Finally getting to the books that have been on my TBR (To Be Read) list for a long time. Thankfully I can track minutes read this summer and not just how many books I read!
And finally, I’m embracing the carefree fun of the summer months by enjoying the quiet days and evenings between the events I already have planned.
Embracing the wild doesn’t have to mean embracing busy-ness. It can also mean embracing peace. Because as Wild Peace says in its closing pages:
“Peace welcomes all that is wild.”
If you would like to learn more about our Summer Reading Program, you can check out more information here.
And if you need a little bit of “wild peace” you can check out my storytime video (for all ages!) here.