Ahoy, me mateys!
Though I may not want a life on the open sea myself, I was raised on sailing and pirate stories and appreciate the ethos of freedom, treasure, and adventure.
What better time to embark on a fantastical journey of imagination than summer?
Yo-ho!
A Shiver Me Timbers Summer
If you’ve been around, you will know I revel in a seasonal mood board, bullet journal spread, or bucket-list type reminder of what I’m up to, goals to do, be, and feel.
It helps me to get in the mood for action on my projects and highest priorities, romanticizes my life, and provides fun variety to my days!
Be & Do
For myself, I grouped my summer seasonal objectives this year around 3 piratical categories or themes: Freedom, Treasure, and Adventure.
I knew I wanted to create a swashbuckling BuJo Spread of inspiration (above), share a poem I wrote a few years ago, the “Pirate’s Freedom Song,” music and articles, continue to dance and write and create, be by the water and in the sunshine, ride and sail, take naps, getaways, and Artist’s Dates, as well as create safe(r) spaces for folks to be themselves, whatever kind of magical character they may be.
There are also a few tasks in the collection that even pirates need to complete to count and manage their spoils, such as filing my German taxes and business strategizing, completing a midyear refresh, wrapping up June & Q2. Then I included some related reading, listening, and viewing to round it out.
Freedom
Foster and exercise freedom:
- Complete Q2/Midyear Refresh, reflection, writing
- Safe(r) Spaces – study, learn, practice for all the contexts in which I work
- Body Acceptance – HAES, recovery & prevention for ED, anti-diet approach
- Non-binary Gender spectrum – embrace fluidity and other qualities as more important human features, reject capitalist patriarchal artificial sexual and gender binaries
- Dance Research & Choreography – pursue historical study, improvisation, collaboration
Treasure
Manage my booty:
- 2024 German Tax Returns
- Set aside profit, pay down debt, add to savings, be bountiful
- Diversify income sources, teaching & coaching, YouTube & Blog collaboration and partnership potential…
Adventure
Intrepidly explore:
- Travel, Explore the city, Artist Dates
- Print Photos from recent exploits
- Sail/coast on bikes & scooters
- Birdwatching, Stargazing, Sunsets
- Reading
- Writing, Poetry
- Sending Letters
Exploring Media
The following are movement, sound, reading, viewing, and further seaworthy inspirations to set the swashbuckling mood:
Melee of Movement
Shipshape movement explorations for pirates and mermaids (and these are just a start…)
Ahoy! Listening
Playlists
- A Pirate’s Life for Me – Music to be Free YouTube Playlist is my latest compilation
- Piratical Summer playlist on Spotify
- A Pirate’s Life for Me: Travel-Worthy Tunes (older) Playlist on Spotify
- Wave After Wave Playlist on YouTube
- Piratical Summer Playlist on Spotify
- Naughty Hot Summer Playlist on Spotify
- Blythe & Free Summer 2018 Playlist on Spotify
Songs & Pieces of Music
- “Pirates” by Caravan Palace
- “Sinkin Soon” by Norah Jones
- “Pirates of the Caribbean” Auckland Symphony Orchestra version
- “The Sea” by Morcheeba
- “Sweet Tides” by Thievery Corporation
- “Water” by Tyla
- “Swim Good” by Frank Ocean
- “Sailing” by Christopher Cross
Reckless Reading
Ever since the days of three months off of school, lazy days, and a Summer Reading List, immersing myself in other worlds through a book has been an integral part of savoring the season. Whether sprawled on the sand for a beach read or fantasizing about travel to exotic locales on staycation, the written word always delights me.
Boundless Books
- Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome (which I own in hard copy) the whole series of which my Dad read to me as a child and adolescent, followed by classics such as Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe
- Black Flags, Blue Waters by Eric Jay Dolin audio book (which I have as an audiobook on Chirp)
- Pirate Women by Laura Sook Duncombe
- Booty: Girl Pirates on the High Seas book by Sara Lorimer (Kindle version)
- Airplane Mode: An Irreverent History of Travel by Shahnaz Habib
- Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
- Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World by Christian Cooper
“Pirate’s Freedom Song” Poem
Voracious Viewing
- “The Pirates of Penzance” Musical
- “Le Corsaire” Ballet
- “Swallows and Amazons” Film from 2016 which I’d like to see after re-reading the classic book
Questions for Reflection
- What shivers your timbers?
- Which tracks are missing from my piratical playlist?
- What fantasy character will you adventure as next: a pirate, mermaid, prince/s, unicorn, dragon?
- How will you romanticize your life this season?
- What’s on your bucket list?
- What tools will you use to stay present to your priorities & projects?
- How may I support your journey?
Resources for Further Exploration
- Summer Fun in or out of the Sun: a Bucket List of Hot-Weather Hits Warmer weather lends itself to many activities I enjoy, such as time outdoors, bicycling, picnicking, and eating fresh produce. I try to seize the sunny fleeting days wherever I can and not miss out on my favorite bits before they’re gone again. Less decoration and dressing up, more dressing down, decluttering, deep-cleaning, taking in the natural beauty. Here is a collection of resources and activities that might provide a jumping-off point for your own longer-day adventures.
- Seaside, Oceanic & Watery Inspirations – Dance, Yoga, Music, Poetry & Creativity Though watery ocean, lake, river, and rain concepts can ignite the imagination yearlong, I find them particularly fun in the warmer months, for children’s and all-ages dance, yoga, meditation and visualization, poetic and artistic inspiration. This is a (growing, dynamic, never comprehensive) collection of resources I personally treasure and love to share as a teaching artist but may also be useful to families with children, other creatives, or to delight your own inner artist child.
- Let’s Write! Camp NaNoWriMo & Creative Structure Back in the year 2019, having freshly moved from Honolulu, Hawai’i to Cologne, Germany, I learned of National Novel Writing Month and took on the challenge to write a novel in a month. Although I didn’t “win” the challenge that November according to the standard 50,000-word goal, I came closer than ever before with a 18,600-word partial novella and the experience spurred me on to participate in and host further creative challenges, ultimately nurturing lasting habits, inspiration, and a growing body of work.
- Balletlicious Building Blocks of Dance 7-Day Free Virtual Challenge Dance theorists identify 7 basic movements of ballet or classical dance technique, and we can see these essential building blocks at play in every ballet pas, step, or movement. This is a free summer dance challenge to begin or continue your ballet journey.
- Yogalicious 5-Day ReTREAT: Escape Virtually, Anytime Everyone deserves a break to rest and restore, and you can take one anytime, anywhere and establish a self-care habit with this virtual ReTREAT! At-home or on-the-go, anywhere with an internet connection and anytime it is convenient for you, this 5-Day Yoga Virtual Mini-ReTREAT provides a restful and rejuvenating practice oasis daily. We are playing with some of the basic shapes of yoga, in active and/or restorative iterations, to find the most delectable flavors for your personal practice.
- Ignite the Spark of Creativity – 6 Ways to Be Inspired Daily artistic explorations can help build a habit of joyful creative expression, and each activity can help grow your ability to feel inspired and produce abundant work. You may use these six prompts and responses to ignite your creative spark and be amazed by the cumulative and far-reaching impacts such regular practices can have in your life.
- Get Down Daily Challenge – build a habit of creative dance Want to make mindful movement and creativity a daily ritual? These bite-sized movement explorations can help build a habit of joyful exploratory movement and creative expression. Develop a joyful daily creative dance practice that is accessible to a variety of abilities and experience levels and achievable in minutes a day.
Special events and resources for Back-to-School, Fall and more coming up soon! In the meantime, the best way to keep abreast I’m coaching, teaching, creating and sharing about as well as my favorite work from other creators is to subscribe to my weekly email newsletter. Would love to be connected to you there, on social media, online or in-person.
Thanks for reading and moving together in spirit or in fact. Take care of yourself, pay attention, and hope to see you again.
It’s a pirate’s life for us!
Blythe Stephens, MFA & Bliss Catalyst
they/them or she/her
Creator of A Blythe Coach @ablythecoach
helping multi-passionate creatives dance through their difficulties,
taking leaps of faith into fulfillment through coaching, yoga & dance education