I'm a regular listener of The Happier Podcast where sisters/authors Gretchen Rubin and Elizabeth Craft talk about happiness, good habits, the four tendencies and the five senses as a way to bring more joy into your life. Every year they recommend "Designing Your Summer." Here's the quotation that prompted the idea:
Every man makes his own summer. The season has no character of its own, unless one is a farmer with a professional concern for the weather. Circumstances have not allowed me to make a good summer for myself this year…My summer has been overcast by my own heaviness of spirit. I have not had any adventures, and adventures are what make a summer.
— Robertson Davies, “Three Worlds, Three Summers,"The Enthusiasms of Robertson Davies
Their idea is to pick something to do in the summer that will set the season apart. For some, it's reading a certain number of books. As a kid, I participated in the library's Summer Reading Club. It could be visiting new-to-you restaurants or trying out new recipes. It might be joining an in-person interest group or traveling to a special place. Maybe you want to try growing a small garden or learn to paint with watercolors. Perhaps it's fulfilling an item on your bucket list. It can be anything that peaks your interest and makes your Summer 2023 memorable.
Since I'm a homebody (and a high achiever), I picked five close-to-home things instead of one. I'm calling it "The Summer of Ps":
- Patio - design our patio space this year to make it more welcoming and usable
- Parks - continue our Eugene Park Tour
- Picnics - take a simple picnic lunch along when we visit the parks
- Past - visit a couple local museums each month
- Purple - be more attuned to the color purple and take photos of what I see
Most of these are activities I hope to do with Dale. I'm on my own for "Purple," though. Being aware of purple things and photographing them will make for some simple blog posts.
How about it? How will you design your summer?
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