Mid-June brings the gift of endless daylight, those long, slow days that seem to stretch time and space.

For many, these days evoke a deep nostalgia. A yearning for the freedom of childhood summers, unstructured hours, and the wide-open possibility of the world.

This season invites us to reconnect with that feeling of liberation, to explore how light and time shape our memories and desires for freedom.

Journal Prompt: Reflect on Nostalgia and the Freedom of Summer

Write about a memory or feeling connected to the endless summer days of your past. Begin by describing a moment when you felt unbounded by time—perhaps a childhood morning or evening when the day seemed to last forever. Then reflect on…

• What did freedom feel like in that moment?

• How does nostalgia for that freedom affect you now?

• Are there ways you can reclaim or reimagine that sense of openness in your current life?

• How does the light of these long days influence your emotions or thoughts about freedom?

 Fiction Prompt

Write a story about a character who, during one long summer day or evening, reconnects with a lost sense of freedom. This could be through revisiting a childhood place, breaking free from routine, or encountering someone or something that awakens that feeling.

• Situate the character in a place in their life where they lack freedom, where they feel shackled by something.

• How does the endless light mirror or contrast with the character’s inner state?

• What obstacles or revelations arise as they navigate this suspended time?

• How does nostalgia shape their choices or understanding of freedom?

• What different choice to they make once they reconnect with that lost sense of freedom?

Poetry Prompt

Write a poem that captures the bittersweet nostalgia for freedom found in the long summer days. Focus on the tension between the joy of open time and the ache of its passing or loss.

• Use imagery that contrasts light and shadow, movement and stillness.

• Experiment with tone. Can you balance longing with celebration?

• Consider using repetition or enjambment to mimic the lingering, unhurried pace of summer light.

Creative Nonfiction Prompt

Write an essay exploring a personal or cultural moment that embodies the freedom and nostalgia of summer’s endless days. This could be a tradition, a rite of passage, or a solitary experience that captures the essence of summer’s open time.

• Begin with a vivid scene that immerses the reader in the sensory details of the moment.

• Reflect on what freedom meant in that context and how nostalgia colors your understanding of it now.

• Consider how this moment connects to broader themes of time, memory, and identity.