I’m in a Summer State of Mind

It’s July, and somehow summer feels like it's absolutely whizzing by. How does that even happen? We spend months dreaming about it, counting down to it, making plans for it... and then suddenly it's almost August.

I've fully embraced it this year.

I've escaped the city whenever I can to immerse myself in the lazy structure of summer by the lake. And yes, I realize "lazy structure" sounds like an oxymoron, but somehow summer pulls it off perfectly. The days have a rhythm without a schedule. You know what needs doing, but somehow nothing feels urgent. It's a pace we forget exists for the other ten months of the year.

So this month, my point of view will be brief. Here's a snapshot of my summer... so far:

Connecting with friends over tennis and pickleball. Long dinners of burgers and ridiculously good summer salads where you eat, laugh, talk about everything and nothing, and don't even know—or care—what time it is. Conversations that leave you feeling lighter, heart full and soul fulfilled.

Sleep that could (and probably should) go on forever. Rainy mornings that demand another coffee and another hour under the covers. Books you can actually get lost in. Cold dips in the lake that somehow reset your entire nervous system. Watching sunsets instead of Netflix. Bare feet. Messy hair. No makeup. The soundtrack of loons and crickets replacing phone notifications.

Then, of course, there are those moments when you glance at your calendar—or, heaven forbid, open your inbox—and genuinely wonder if you'll ever be able to focus on work again. Panic! And then relief. Oh no, not yet.

There are trips for me ahead. Big ones! (more on that in a separate post.) Plans to make. Fall will arrive with its routines, responsibilities and packed calendars.

But for now, I'm reminding myself to stay true to summer. To leave my phone inside a little more often. To resist filling every empty afternoon simply because it's empty.

To remember that not every moment needs to be documented, photographed, shared, or optimized. Sometimes the best moments are the ones that exist only because you were completely present for them.

I think there WAS a time when being still was the most natural thing in the world. Yet somehow now, it can feel like one of the hardest skills to practice. We've become so accustomed to being reachable, productive, informed, entertained, and "on" all the time that simply sitting on a dock watching the water ripple can almost feel... indulgent.

It isn't. I think it's essential.

Because somewhere between the endless scrolling, notifications, group chats, and pressure to keep up, we've forgotten that our brains were never designed to be busy every waking minute.

Summer gives us permission to remember. To float a little. To let conversations wander. To stare at the clouds without needing a reason. To lose track of what day it is. To be gloriously unavailable for an afternoon.

To simply be.

And honestly? I LOVE that feeling. I don't get nearly enough of it.

Maybe that's the real gift of summer. Not just the sunshine, the lake, or the long evenings—but the reminder that slowing down isn't falling behind.

Actually, it’s exactly how we catch up with ourselves.