It is not easy to focus these days. Or rather, it is not easy to focus on the simple joys that summer brings. There are wars brewing and bombs flying about. Billionaires running our world aground. Talk of a big bill that will cut funding for rural hospitals, children living in poverty, and people with disabilities, yet still raise our debt. Without granting attention to Washington we all know most ever decision this administration makes is a disaster in the making. You don’t even have to be a glass half-empty die-hard pessimist to agree with me.

We are challenged from first light to last, and every minute during these long hot days, to find a reason to laugh, smile, and rejoice in June love. But, that is the ultimatum. The dare. To stand still long enough to find your own small life in all its magnificence. To join in the living. To find some purple and blue and green.

Yes, vote. Yes, talk to your neighbors about local matters. Yes, take stock in your own actions. Yes, be kind and compassionate even to those you don’t understand. But protect your fragile self by not taking in too much that you can’t control. Turn off the news. Stop with the social media scrolling. Step outside. Run around.

There is plenty that steals our attention away from this moment. Do what you can to steal it back. Gaze uninterrupted onto whatever horizon you can drift along.

It is strawberry season in southern California, so I am going to visit my local farm stand weekly and keep eating these delicious berries for as long as possible. That is something I love about June.