Romanticizing Summer

Summer is here, with June 21st marking the official opening of the season. While Spring was a time for planting seeds in our lives, Summer involves letting go and allowing those seeds to flourish. The Summer months are symbolic of youthful innocence – a time for enjoyment, for play, and for the appreciation of beauty. When I reflect upon Summer and what the season conjures up for me, the word romance comes to mind…concerts in the park – your crushes fingertips brushing against yours, moonlit nights where the festivities continue on from dusk to dawn. Summer is a time for us to fall even more in love with our lives. Through romanticizing the summer season we put ourselves in the path of beauty. 

How can I put myself in the path of beauty through the next few months? I find beauty in abundance when I step outside – in the roses that line the walkway to our front door, in the dewey green grass that my toes curl around, in the sun’s rays dancing through the tree canopy overhead. With warmer, longer days, summer is an invitation to romanticize life through time spent outside. 

Going to the Ocean

I live 38 miles from the Pacific Ocean. The closest I’ve ever been to one of Earth’s Seven Seas. What a gift! There are few things more beautiful than watching the sunset over the ocean. This summer I intend to spend more days, and nights, at the ocean. I want to lie on the sand reading a novel, learn to surf, and spend a few quiet moments just sitting and watching the rhythmic motion of the waves as they roll in and out. 

Picnics

There is something incredibly romantic about a meal enjoyed outside, whether it be in solitude or shared with another. In fact, as I sit and write this post, I am on our patio sipping a cup of coffee. I swear, everything tastes better when enjoyed a la fraiche. So let me take my morning smoothie, my afternoon salad, or my evening dinner and enjoy it beneath the sun and the moon. 

Camping Trips  

Waking up in a tent, snuggled deep beneath the downy feathers of a sleeping bag, listening to the birds as they sing outside the mesh door, this is what camping brings up for me. Whether it be a night spent in my backyard in the middle of a busy workweek, or a 3-day excursion to a remote location, camping is one way that I can put myself in the path of beauty this summer. 

Morning Rides & Runs

Summer heat can make afternoon bike rides or runs a bit of a challenge. With the sun rising before 6 AM and the morning air the coolest it will be all day, what an opportunity to enjoy a pre-work ride or run through the hills of Southern California. While it can be a struggle for me not to hit snooze, I never regret a morning spent outside on my bike, especially when it allows for more time with Daniel. Avoiding the snails as they meander across the road, hearing the crow of a rooster at a neighboring farm, feeling the first of the sun’s warm beams hit your skin, there is much charm to be found in a summer morning. 

Just as did Spring, and Winter before that, Summer will come and go more quickly then I want it to. Which is why I intend to make the most of these months, to relish in the beauty, to play and explore, to romanticize life. 

That is all I have for you this week; keeping it light and breezy, just as I hope my summer will be. 

So with that, how might  you romanticize your summer?