Welcome to the Goals of Summer

Every year, my friends and I set summer goals. It's hard to say when it started for sure or what the original purpose was. The earliest memory I have of it definitely predates the 2008 weekly video we filmed for it back in our Junior High days. Maybe it was inspired by one of my favorite episodes of Arthur, or maybe we came up with it on our own. Maybe the original purpose was just to make sure we didn't waste our summer. But with a sporadic memory like mine, who could say for sure? I'm sure if we wanted to, one of us could set a summer goal to figure out/write down the origins of this great tradition, and we may even see that as a summer goal sometime in the coming years. But aas, that year is not this year.

But one thing I do know and appreciate about summer goals is that by the end of the summer, it becomes a list of memories. Sure, we don't always complete all of them--some of them are silly, impossible, or "up for interpretation" but the writer. But I wouldn't have remembered that "shower" I took in my neighbor's front yard at 2 AM, all our old grocery store shenanigans, random inside jokes, that time we went trick-or-treating in August, and a lot of other great summer experiences if it wasn't for summer goals.

So this year as one of my summer goals, I chose to document my summer goals in a place I could find them in the future. Maybe this'll become a tradition in the coming years, or maybe I'll forget about it and it'll die fittingly (come September) when the dreams of summer fade with the leaves falling off the trees (I'd hate to tie myself down a few summers from now). But for now, this is my personal documentation of my summer. It's not really for anyone but myself, although you're welcome to follow along or even document your own summer here if you'd like. This blog is open to any and all things to do with summer and summer goals for anyone--and of course I encourage anyone reading to make your own goals. Now let's get this party started!