Let July be July,
and let August be August.
And let yourself
just be
even in
the uncertainty.
You don’t have to fix everything.
You don’t have to solve everything.
And you can still find peace
and grow
in the wild
of changing things.

by Morgan Harper Nichols

The end of July was so wonderfully gloomy here in Georgia that my friends and I started to get the White Girl Fall tingles. It’s like spidey senses given to you by Pinterest. I may have even lit my “Leaves” scented candle. (What do leaves smell like you may ask? Apparently “golden nectar, red apple, and cloves spice.”) Soon Target, Starbucks, and all of corporate America will be shoving pumpkin spice down our throats as they whisk us away into the mad dash of last third of the year.

And while a part of me is ready to get swept up in the current, another is urging a pause.

“Let July be July, and let August be August.”

August is a bridging month, leading us gently from slow summer days back to our regularly scheduled lives. I’ve always thought of August as the start of the second half. A time to reassess goals, take stock of where you’ve been and reprioritize where you’re headed.

This year, I very viscerally felt this shifting of gears. A few days after returning from our vacation, I woke up with a deep sense that it was time to lean into a new season. I could hear Taylor Swift’s “It’s Time to Go” playing in my head as I got out my planner.

Perhaps this feeling was connected to accomplishing big goals in July. The first goal was to attend my friend’s wedding in Poland. I don’t know if anyone else thinks of trips as goals, but they take planning and execution, so I add them to my goals for the year.

The second was to pay off my student loans. As of July 31st, I am officially student debt free! (A huge thank you to Corey for the support and teamwork it took to tackle this so quickly. I have a lot of thoughts from this process, ranging from discipline to privilege to systemic injustices. Stay tuned…)

With these goals behind me, I felt a release to dream again. To consider where I want to direct my time and resources with these new margins. However, I don’t have any directional headings right now. I’m starting to feel a certain kind of pressure in the in between. It’s that sense that I need to figure it out now, and if I don’t, I’ll fall behind or miss out.

What a lie that is. A lie perpetuated by the social media algorithms feeding us hustle stories and overconsumption habits, whispering, “You should be doing more.”

“You should be there in your career by now.” “Your family should be more like theirs.” “Your home should look more like hers.” “Your forehead should be wrinkle free” (I really didn’t expect this one to rear it’s head so soon in life.. I’m only 28 y’all, but the lines are real and Botox is now threateningly available.).

I don’t believe our lives are meant to be spent chasing these ever elusive “shoulds” and “mores.” I don’t believe that is what our God intended, nor that it is what he wants for us.

There’s nothing wrong with anticipating, preparing, and hoping for the next season. There is also nothing wrong with letting the next season unfold as it does, so long as you are not passively waiting.

You don’t need to figure it all out today. Your job is simply to do the next right thing as it comes along. To trust. To ask for wisdom. To lean into your strengths and gifts.

The next season will be here before we know it. And when it arrives, I’ll enjoy my Iced Chai Latte with Pumpkin Cold Foam with the rest of them.

For now, let’s just let August be August.