I think most of us start summer with some high hopes. We remember the feeling of summer when we were little - even if it was only moments - and sometimes we go chasing that high. Catching fireflies in the backyard. Hours spent making up games and doing everything and nothing with our neighborhood crew. A lake, ocean, or stream that shaped your summer vacations. 

As grown-ups, sometimes summer lives up to this reality and sometimes the responsibilities can get in the way of feeling into the freedom of long days (hello coordinating camp schedules, booking travel, taking time off to care for family or travel for family commitments, and trying to get work in between all this juggling). 

The busier summer feels, the more intentional we sometimes need to be about carving out a moment to just ENJOY. 

Let’s be clear - I don’t take my toddler out for ice cream on a gorgeous summer evening because evening is a good time of day to give a little kid sugar and it makes bedtime easier (it does not!). I do it because I love the feeling I get while out for a spontaneous summer ice cream in the evening and making those moments and memories with my family is worth it to me (despite the inevitable bedtime meltdown). Other things that really feel summer in my body (and this is just a short list): reading a book on my porch in the evening, going down the water slide at the pool, eating outdoors, music or theater in the park, sitting on the stoop, anything corn, s’mores, watching thunderstorms roll through. 

Maybe as you read this you know right away something you could do tonight that would make you feel like SUMMER, but for some of us the playfulness of summer can feel far off. If that’s you - follow along in this next exercise. You can have someone guide you with your eyes closed or you can open your eyes along the way and write down what you notice in a journal. 

Close your eyes. Take a deep breath and let it all the way out.

Feel the temperature of the air on your skin. 

Notice the rise and fall of your chest as you breathe. 

Remember a time before big responsibilities, being the person in charge of travel plans, and a daily to-do list. 

Drop your energy into your belly and allow your mind to travel to a moment that holds the essence of SUMMER for you. 

A place where you feel the open ease of kid summers. 

Days that stretched a lifetime. Hour long adventures that felt they lasted all day. The era perhaps, when someone would be calling you in for bedtime while it was still light outside. 

Breathe into this place of SUMMER. 

What is the light like? 

Is it quiet or noisy?

Is there an actual location you know that you see yourself in? Is the space more of an imagined amalgamation?

What is the temperature?

What can you see around you as you imagine this place? 

Is there a flavor or scent that comes to mind?

What are you wearing? 

As you feel ALL of these things breathe into your body and gently ask yourself: 

Is there something now that can give you a taste of this feeling? 

Is it accessible within the next week? Or even the next few days? 

I would love to hear from you what it is and I’m happy to be your accountability partner. Send me an email and let me know one way you are going to evoke this feeling of SUMMER in yourself and I’ll check in with you after a week to hear how it went. I can’t wait to hear how you will create Summer!