Labor Day Reset

I grew up with a mom who, from her Catholic School days, would joke about putting away the white pants and shoes after Labor Day.  One simply did not wear white after Labor Day.  Growing up in the Chicago School System,  the school year started AFTER Labor Day, not weeks before as it seems to now.  Those of us in the Chicago area, of a certain age, will remember the boxes of Jay’s Potato Chips that would come with a brand new pencil this time of year. I still stalk school supply sales each Summer, looking for deals on paper and what I now call “office supplies.”   As I pack for a business trip next week, I still question whether I should change out my pink purse and open sandals for this trip.

Labor Day still has the liminality of a transition point,  a feeling that one should be taking stock, not only of clothes, shoes, backpacks and “office supplies,” but also a recognition of the passage of time.  The year 2024, bright with promise when the snow flew,  is 2/3 of the way done, more tired, unkempt and not turning out quite as expected. Kind of like me in my life.

Today is not only the last working day of the Summer, 2024, but it is my last day as a full time faculty member at the University of Louisville.   This has a strange anti-climactic feel to it.  I will be lurking around as an adjunct and kicking around new ideas for the next challenge.  I feel like next week will bring that strange air of uncertainty, and I hoping for that tinge of optimism and interest and possibility that comes with the new school year.

What are you resetting this year?