Happy August!

Historically, August marked the beginning of the harvest season. It was often celebrated with holidays like Lughnasadh or Lammas, particularly in Ireland and Scotland. The parties included feasting, lots of apples and grains (and fermented versions thereof!), and cake. What’s not to love? 🙂

Personally, I like the idea of recognizing August as a harvest month. My July was incredibly busy and overscheduled–mostly my own fault for taking on too many projects! So it’s nice to take a moment now to dwell on what I’ve created rather than what’s left on my to-do list. I heard someone recently describe August as “the Sunday of summer,” and that feels very appropriate.

That said, I do have one problem with celebrating what I’ve done so far. Even though I’ve put a lot of work into setting up an author platform and getting a manuscript ready to query, I’m not exactly where I want to be. I don’t have a ton of followers and a publishing deal already. 🙂 The truth is that those things take time. But during that time, all sorts of doubts have a chance to crop up: what if this never works? What if I’ve got the wrong idea? What if my writing just isn’t good enough? (Oh, imposter syndrome!) Normally I can bury those thoughts underneath a mountain of focus on my writing. But now that I’ve taking a break, they’ve resurfaced.

And all that is to say that I think, for me, the most important thing about August is it’s the beginning of the harvest season. Maybe I don’t have as many apples or followers or likes as I think I ought to right at this moment. But there could be more coming. I just have to keep going and give it time. 🙂