I groan when I’m asked what my intentions are at the end of my six-week memoir class. In the spring, they are called summer intentions, and, in the fall, they are winter intentions. I know that the teacher will write it down, and when we return in the next season I’m asked and draw a blank and when she reminds me from her notes I will cringe and say, “Yeah, no, I didn’t do that, but I did…” Every time. It might be funny if it wasn’t so sad.

I’m a little more focused as this summer began. I’ve set actual deadlines on the calendar.

I’ve focused on my main book while also keeping my eye out for things to pull my prayer book together.

I’ve tried to write every day, and I can almost meet that goal.

So, if things are going so swimmingly, what exactly are my intentions?

1. Keep my morning routine – do my word puzzles, check my email, balance my checkbook, and check Threads (because I hate myself).
2. Review my St. Kateri outline and see where my research and writing focus will be that day and week.
3. I’ve been asked to consider leading a workshop on St. Kateri, and so I’m doing that – considering it. I would plan it for the fall, around Indigenous Peoples Day or Kateri’s canonization anniversary, but we’ll see how that advances.
4. Read a chapter in each of the books I’m reading – one is about Israel, one is about Democracy, one is about White Poverty, and one is about Indigenous relationships plus a skimming re-read of Louise Penny’s Gamache series (there’s nothing wrong with feeding an obsession, is there?)
5. Speaking of Louise Penny: as I was reading her books, several things jumped out at me in the way of writing prompts. The first one appears tomorrow, and they will continue weekly through September. I have aptly named them Penny Prompts. So clever 😉 And alliterate.
6. Plan the blog at least two weeks out, including Instagram and Spotify (please check them out)
7. And last, but not least, rescue democracy. Sunday was rough; I’ll admit it, but we’ve seen worse, and we can get through this if we remain focused. They won’t be weekly, but I plan to publish more of Election Connection. We all have work to do. I’ll repeat this over and over again: There are NO polls! The only poll that means anything is the one on November 5th. Let’s all work towards that one.