August is dreamy to me. She is hazy, unrelenting, and infinite.
I think Taylor Swift nails the feeling on the head with her song August from the folklore album. I always like to put in my headphones, go on a long walk, and listen to this album on the first day of the month. I live at the beach and can taste the salt air as I listen.
I’ve been wondering how we wade through a month like August?
For many, it’s a return to school for themselves or the littles in their lives. It’s a return to schedule, familiarity. For others, the end of a heaving, hot summer. They are begging for fall to return. I mourn the end of summer every year. I never want it to be over. I want swimming in the ocean, long hazy walks, ice cream for dinner, and cards on the porch forever.
Who am I if not a summer girl?
This August looks different for me. The summerhouse girls are moving out. I like to think I got my degree in being a summerhouse girl - 4 years together and I am better for it. All summer the three of us have been grappling with change. How do you anticipate such a big one, prepare for it truly, while remaining present day to day? I don’t know that I have an answer or did a very good job of it.
Who am I if not a summerhouse girl?
Change is sneaky. Sarah and I went on a long walk the other week. I will miss our walks. She is moving across the country for the first time. I am moving back home for a little bit. We talked about how we always knew this good thing, this truly good thing, would have to end one day. And the way it is ending is, I think, the sweetest way it could have happened. And yet, it doesn’t make it any easier. It doesn’t make it fun or carefree. You can see the beauty of it. You can be grateful for it. You can even be excited about it. But you can still be sad. Both feelings can exist. This is something the three of us girls remind each other often.
I’ll be spending the month doing my best to be gentle with myself and gentle with others. I want to ask friends to go on walks. I want to watch movies with Sam. I want to cook dinner with my parents. I want to write my long distance friends letters. I want to wade through the memories of four years. I want to practice gratitude and I want to fight hard for joy.
How are you finding yourself this August?
August Mood Board
Reminders from July:
Rest is not a prize to be earned
Bringing a book with you is always a good idea
Taking care of yourself is important work
There is not much ice cream and a long walk can’t fix
Poetry meets us where we are
Laughter is holy ground
You’re never too old to learn to play
You can book a dinner reservation for no reason at all
You’ll never regret complimenting a stranger
Pasta has healing properties
Disposable cameras feel like childhood
Waking up for the sunrise is always worth it
Showing up for the people around you matters more than you know
Always send the text when you are thinking of someone
Honesty is beautiful in its vulnerability
His mercies are new every morning
Snippets From My Camera Roll
“For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.”
― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
(I hope you all had the chance to listen or watch Ann Lamott on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang Podcast. I was surely swooning)
this is so beautiful
Lovely words Emma - I want to add “an act of kindness is never wasted” which hung in the front hall of our boarding house this past year and has become a mantra for me. It reminds me of you and the kindness guiding your walk through life! Goodnight and not goodbye to the Summer House