Nature Notebook: Summer Solstice

Journal prompts to help you celebrate

Tomorrow is summer solstice, the astronomical first day of summer and the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. The sun has reached its peak, and from tomorrow afternoon onwards, the days will gradually get shorter. But this is a moment of celebration - now is the time to step into the sun’s power, to make plans for the coming season and to gather and preserve what you can from the earth while it is green and abundant.

While some people celebrate the solstice by staying up all night and watching the sun rise (many of them gathered at Stonehenge, or other ancient monuments), for a lot of others, this changing of the seasons isn’t something they mark in any way. I can’t say I’ve ever danced around a fire, or visited a neolithic monument to celebrate, but in recent years I’ve found tuning into the seasons a very valuable exercise. If nothing else, it’s a good excuse to reflect on the past seasonand start to think about what I’d like to happen in the coming months.

I’d love to invite you to open up your nature journal some time this week and write a bit about summer or draw something you associate with this time of year. Maybe you only have time for a note in your phone, or to think things through while out walking your dog. Either way, I’ve included some prompts at the end of this email to help you with your summer solstice celebrations.

Above you can see my own solstice spread, with a few ideas of ways to celebrate, plus a quote from Glennie Kindred’s The Earth’s Cycle of Celebration, sent to me by my friend Jen, who has been fundamental in helping me connect with the seasons:

“The rampant growth period has reached its peak. Everywhere is a sense of abundance and fresh growth. This is the peak of our expressive selves. Celebrate all of your achievements and who you are." - Glennie Kindred

Journal prompts

• What is the summer solstice? Have you ever celebrated it before? If so, how. If not, why not?

• What have been some of your highlights from spring/the past couple of months (nature-related or otherwise)?

• What are you most looking forward to this summer? (Maybe it’s a holiday, a plant in your garden coming into flower, the release of a new book, being able to eat that veggie plant you just planted seeds for…)

• What can you let go of and burn in the fire (literally or metaphorically)?

• What would you like to grow or nurture this summer?

• Draw a plant, bird, tree or insect you have noticed in June.

• Draw something you associate with the summer solstice.

• Write down some ways you will celebrate this seasonal change and illustrate them.

Ways you could celebrate summer solstice:

• Go out foraging for elderflower, garlic mustard, ground ivy, pineapple weed or something else and make something with it.

• Make a summer tonic or tea using foraged plants or herbs from your garden/windowsill.

• Read about summer solstice traditions.

• Decorate your house (or your head!) with flowers.

• Light a fire and make a wish (or throw in a strip of paper with something you want to let go of written on it).

• Give a loved one a pot of herbs or something you’ve grown or made yourself.

• Go for a walk somewhere that means something to you, or explore somewhere new with friends.

• Plant some seeds.

• Write or draw in your nature journal!

  How will you be celebrating the solstice this week? Let me know in the comments!