See Ya, Summer!
August/September 2022
It’s that time of year!
I’m not sure about you, but for me…
Yes, I had fun, I slid some summer adventures in. I went to see a comedy show in Minneapolis! My brother & his girlfriend hosted me for the weekend!
But for every fun summer adventure, there’s a moment like this:
I don’t stop living an ordinary life just because it’s warm out.
Work loomed large: big changes, learning curves. I liked a lot of it! I felt myself growing into a new role and was surprised by how great it felt.
I guess I feel like it was still a mixed bag. I had a good summer! Really good! But those dumb seasonal questions come with big expectations of what ‘good’ is:
“Go anywhere cool?”
“Try something fun?”
“Take a big vacation?”
Not really! I worked really hard, hosted my sister, drew stuff at an occasional Levitt concert, snuck in a few friend hangs before people moved, made some tasty meals, hosted my birthday party.
Last summer was difficult for me. I told people: “Work was a lot!”
I was burnt out, overwhelmed. My biggest success this summer is that I still have juice in the tank. You know how I did it?
I stopped expecting myself to create the greatest summer ever.
I let myself scroll through Instagram a little longer. I let my piles of laundry linger. I ditched intellectual tomes for childhood favorite books and fiction on audiobook. I didn’t go outside that much, deciding that my walk to work was enough. And then sometimes I drove to work.
It was jam-packed without me trying to squeeze in more excitement. There are things I love about summer, and right now, the top one is that it’s basically over.
That’s it for this issue! Keeping it simple, à la my summer attitude.
Thanks for reading this month. What was your summer like? Do you want it to stretch on forever, or get in the rearview? I’d love to hear!
💛, Ten