I Made a Summer Bingo Card

Ya’ll, this morning I re-arranged wall art and also decided a hanging plant needs a whole new lease on life so I tended to that. I scrolled in bed (which was a total mistake) and then listened to an affirmations meditation because I still wasn’t ready to get out from under my covers. I made tea, I got dressed, I did Morning Pages, and laid on my living room floor for some foam roller back stretching.

How am I at the age when sleeping hurts?

That brings us to 9:49am.

During COVID-19 – the 2020 and 2021 era – as a non-essential worker, I was mostly at home.

Like many people, I did some re-decorating, some re-organizing, some purging, and some creative shuffling to figure out what I wanted in my space and what I did not. I listened to Joshua Becker’s audiobook – The Minimalist Home: A Room-by-Room Guide to a Decluttered, Refocused Life.

That book really spoke to me. As a person who has moved a lot – as an adult, I’ve lived in 18 U.S. cities – each time I’ve moved I’ve done the cost-benefit analysis of whether schlepping something across the country felt ‘worth it’ or ‘necessary’ to me.

As of right now, I like the relationship I have with my material possessions.

There are a few key things I’d be super bummed about if they ever disappeared (for example, the teddy bear I’ve slept with since I was 4, some trinkets from friends and travel that hold special memories, and particular art I find evocative and meaningful).

I’m generally grossed out by capitalism and consumerism, but I’m also thrilled by the convenience of modern-day amenities and feel peaceful about making planned purchases that make my life and/or body feel better (for example, next-day delivery on bath accouterments that include rose petals and sea salt).

I know there are whole movements and internet rabbit holes you can go down if you’re interested in ‘simple living,’ ‘minimalism,’ and/or documentaries exploring how advertising and social media are both well-researched psychological manipulations designed to get us to do what the app and product owners want us to do (stay on our screens and buy their shit, respectively).

If you are genuinely interested in learning more about the content that spoke to me—and again, I take a 12-step approach—I take what I like and leave the rest—I recommend going to YouTube and checking out The Minimal Mom and Dana K. White, author of A Slob Comes Clean

All this is to say I keep the front of my refrigerator clean and curated.

On the top (the freezer door), I have a small set of magnets from cities I’ve visited with friends – I keep only the ones with fond memories attached. I use those magnets to hang up things I want to remember daily (NONE OF WHICH have anything to do with food or what’s in the fridge).

The bottom 2/3 of the fridge I keep intentionally clear.

I learned during the pandemic that I feel activated by too much visual clutter. Dana K. White talks about how each of us has a “clutter threshold” and how, for each of us, that is different. No judgment if yours is higher or lower than the other people that may live in your home – it’s simply information.

The way my brain works, there are certain things I like to have out and visible – like different colored pens in a cute vessel on my desk. There are other things I cannot stand looking at – stacks of papers, mail, or dishes.

Recently, I decided to make a bottom-of-the-fridge exception.

A couple of weeks ago, I felt compelled to grab a piece of 8.5 x 11” paper from my printer tray and sketch out what I’m calling “Trina’s Summer Bingo Card.”

Freehand, I drew one big box and then horizontal and vertical lines until I had a grid - 5 columns and 5 rows – 25 boxes total.

I want to be crystal clear: this slap-dash bingo card is NOT a to-do list.

I don’t have to do anything in the boxes. These are not more appointments or obligations or expectations I am putting on myself.

Why must I be careful about that? Well, I live in America in 2024. I run a household. I run a business. I have family and friends that I care about. And I’m trying to tend to my body since this is apparently the vessel in which I’m going to have this particular human experience.

All of that, plus I was raised as a girl and conditioned as a woman. I came of age in the 80s and 90s and started working outside the home at 15. I am white, I ‘own’ my home, one car, and can fall into the trap of thinking of my time in relationship to billable hours.

Here’s the rub: We are a “productivity” obsessed culture. We are also inside of the cultural pendulum swing attempting to correct for decades of overwork and capitalist fixation. We are striving for balance because we’ve learned that being out of balance can accidentally kill us. And during the pandemic, we were all given an up-close reminder of our impending mortality.

Don’t get me wrong, I like “doing things.” I like making plans, making things, and making memories. Of course, I don’t want to sit around and simply relax until the ride is over.

That said, as a professional pattern spotter, I’m aware that I have the pattern of feeling like I need to “earn” the “right” to go play!

Vestigial from “do your homework first” or “finish your chores,” I like that I am responsible and organized and can prioritize wisely when I choose to. But I’m 43, and I haven’t prioritized play for most of my adult life.

I have fun, laugh, and seek out good times, but it’s way down on my list of shit-to-do. Fun creeps in if and when I have time after completing all my self-assigned life and work tasks.

I brought this up with my psychologist and some older mentors of mine, and they validated the inkling I was starting to feel. Dr. Sherry explained to me that the way the brain works is actually to function in the reverse order of how many of us have been stacking up our days. We must rest and play so that we can work, and problem-solve, and do hard shit.

Trying to dive head-long into work each day means our brain have no time to breathe.

Thus, for me, a bingo card!

I will try it for one season (the summer Solstice is on Friday) and feel out what I learn and experience between now and the start of autumn.

For now, these 25 boxes on my refrigerator will serve as a visual and spiritual reminder that I have already “earned” the right to play just by being alive. Just like I tell clients about having to choose to make time to fight racism and misogyny, I must choose to make time to get out in nature, get away from technology, and enjoy this special and fleeting Minnesota season.

In case you’re curious, things on my bingo card include:

 Remembering I can stop by more than five different lakes within a 20-minute drive of my house

 Going on a picnic

 Trying out a summer recipe

 Riding one of the swan-shaped paddle boats available for rent on Lake Nokomis that has LED strip lights if you’re paddling at night

So far, I’ve highlighted the two boxes I got to this weekend. I had my first swim of the season, and I played in the rain. As an adult, it was a good reminder that rain doesn’t always have to be something to stay out of; it can be something to run into ;)

I’m curious – what’s your current relationship to play this summer? How often are you prioritizing other people’s play over your own? And how do you feel like your relationship to work, and play may have gotten distorted somewhere along the way?

Let me know what you put on your own Summer Bingo Card –things you want to remember you could do this summer. You can reach me at trina@trinaolson.com.

Talk to you after the Solstice,