About the Author

Kathryn H. Ross is the author of memoir Black Was Not A Label (2019, Pronto) and poetry chapbook Count It All Loss (2021, GoldScriptCo). She writes and edits in Southern California and loves cats and naps. Read her prose, essays, and poetry at speakthewritelanguage.com.

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  1. I needed to read this because it provides an explanation for my life. I am a lifetime learner, myself and the tools you provided, I’m absorbing all of it! School shopping, list of books to read, all of it. My husband doesn’t get it. If we had the budget, I’d enroll in classes every year, just because it feeds that need to learn. Good to know I’m not alone in the “outside”.

  2. My first few years out of school and working full-time (year-round), I remember feeling a distinct melancholy and fatigue during late spring and early summer. It would last for several weeks. It took a few years of this pattern for me to realize that I was used to being on summer break! I think on some level I was mourning my former routine and life stage. I really like this idea of a second start in the year; it certainly would have helped me ease into ‘life on the outside’!

    • I hear you! When I started seriously working through the summers it was such an odd adjustment and there was a mourning period. I hope your second start is as life-giving as a fresh school year! 💛

  3. This is a perfect follow-up for The Perfect Lie. Although these poems are from the heart, soul, and mind of a young woman who is starting on a wonderful journey, finding your way through those delightful portals while I am an 84 year old woman who has had an incredible journey, education for myself, sharing my experiences with 38 years of young minds who shared with me their eagerness to impact my life as they grow and experience the turn of a century with me. I travel another ribbon of highway with four amazing sons, one incredible daughter who have enriched my life and have given me purpose, inspiration, so much joy! My companion, my understanding husband, has traveled with me to shepherd me through this perfect life. Like you I had to recognize that the perfection in Him and the joy that I experience when I recognize that He has allowed me to experience fulfillment in His plan and purpose for our lives. Thank you.

    • Glyndora,

      This was such a lovely comment to receive! Thank you for sharing a glimpse into your amazing life and sharing you rich wisdom. I so appreciate this and I’m so glad my words resonated with you. 💛🥰

  4. I love learning too. For me, June is the second New Year. That’s when I review my goals and finances and reevaluate myself as to how I am doing and if on the right track or not. I think it’s a great idea to have a “second New Year” to reevaluate, refresh, reignite the fire, whenever that may be…Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

  5. Ooh love this perspective. I’m also still living the school rhythm even though I’ve been outside of it for a while. There’s just something a little more manageable about starting fresh after summer than after Christmas. But also, I think anything that marks time & causes us to be a little more aware for a period is a good thing. Thanks for sharing!

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