8 Ways I'm Enjoying A Lazier Summer

Adding a little more spontaneity as an antidote to the time anxiety so many of us feel this season

Welcome to Making Time. Each week, I share thoughts and ideas for making more time for yourself by building creative energy and establishing rituals and practices. This year, I’m also attempting The 2024 Slowdown, which you can do with me. If you’d like to follow along, you can subscribe for free.

Summer is the season of acute time anxiety for me.

Every year around this time, I find myself frantically worrying that it’s slipping by too quickly, that I’m not making the most of every ray of sunshine and hour of daylight.

In the past, I might have solved this with a massive list of summer activities to do, so I could maximize this brief season. Who knows, I might have turned it into a spreadsheet, given myself a few due dates, and otherwise found ways to make myself feel guilty and inadequate. But hey, at least I’d feel in control.

Have you ever tried to force yourself to enjoy something? How does that usually work out for you? Yeah, same.

Instead, I’m trying to get more skilled at being lazy. I’m making last minute plans, doing what I feel like when I feel like it, and avoiding lists as much as I can.

Here are a few ways I’ve been enjoying a lazy, improvisational summer so far. Maybe one of them will inspire you to do what you please for once.

Picking fruit

My birthday was this week, so we packed Lucy into the car and drove out to Hood River to pick cherries. Tart cherries are my absolute favorite, and we brought back loads to turn into pie filling.

Picnic breakfast

Last Sunday, we packed up some homemade cardamom rolls, yogurt, and fruit and walked over to the local fishing pond for breakfast. It was so peaceful and still. Well, until Lucy mistook the lily pads for a solid surface and walked off the end of the dock. Now we know she can swim.

Petting farm animals

This week, I petted alpacas, goats, and held two little piglets (they were not crazy about it, so I quickly put them down again).

Collecting wildflowers

I took my secateurs with me on a morning walk and picked a big bunch of wildflowers. Somehow, these weeds look quite pretty once I plop them in a vase.

Reading in the hammock

I’m obsessed with my hammock. Whenever I’m not sure what I feel like doing, I head there with a book. Currently, I’m reading the near-800 page The Covenant of Water.

After dinner walks

Whenever the mood strikes after dinner, we go for another walk down the road and often catch a sunset.

Friend dates

I’ve been focusing on friendships lately, and have even been going on coffee dates with new friends in the area, which is quite fun. Summer can be tricky becaue everyone has so many plans, but I’m remembering how much it means to me just to connect to people you like and care about.

Absolutely nothing

And finally, I am really trying to become more comfortable with doing nothing when I feel like it.

How are you enjoying summer as it rolls by?

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