A Gentle Summer Bucket List
I’d like to introduce you to my friend Blanche. I can’t remember, have you met her before? I met Blanche in May of 2024 while visiting the stunning Moco Museum in Amsterdam. I walked right up to her and started laughing, joy bubbling up with the feeling that I was meeting someone in person for the first time after talking to them over the phone for years.
Because truth be told, I’ve known her deeply, some might even say intimately, for almost a decade. This is Blanche ⤵
Thankfully, I don’t see Blanche much during daylight hours most days (unless one of my teenagers is driving or on a plane), but she and I have been chatting between 3-5 am most nights since around 2016. Her favorite trick? Blanche loves to wake me up from a dead sleep and tell me I’ve committed some heinous act that’s ruined someone’s life and there’s no coming back from it.
She’s a talented little lady with the ability to pull anything from my to-do list, past conversations, or upcoming calendar items, no matter how mundane or normal, to make her point. It can sometimes take hours to tell her she’s got it all wrong. Case in point, I remember her telling me one time that because I hadn’t made our new dentist appointments yet, my whole family would have horrible teeth and gums for life, and it was all my fault.
She’s really funny like that sometimes. (I made all our new dentist appointments first thing the next morning.)
This month, Blanche has been saying this: “summer’s almost over and you’ve wasted the whole thing already”. But here’s the thing, Blanche,
☀️ SUMMER JUST STARTED TODAY ☀️
We haven’t wasted it — it’s happening right now. And here’s something else, Blanche, like I mentioned in last week’s message⤵
“Summer doesn’t need to be epic adventures, packed schedules, and Insta-worthy vacations.
It can be slow mornings, coffee and books, slamming screen doors, wild raspberries,
long walks, watermelon on the porch, stargazing in the backyard, watercolor sunsets, and baseball games on TV.
The simplest days are the best kind of days.”
~my spin on a fad internet quote
In fact, Blanche, I saw more fireflies than I’ve seen in my entire life last night just standing on my own back porch — and I was able to share that incredible, breathtaking, magical experience with three people I love, my three people. You can’t even imagine how much summer goodness we’re having. So stop it.
(I have to talk to her like that sometimes to get a good night’s sleep in. It’s okay, she can take it.)
Honestly, Blanche (aka my anxiety) seems to be a little overactive and hyper these days. It’s most likely a side effect of the life upheaval I put myself through by living #ontheroadagain for eight months this past year to find our new home (worth it, but still a thing). So I’ve decided I’m going to be extra gentle with myself this summer ~ eat yummy nutritious foods, take deep breaths and long walks, and enjoy the simplest of pleasures.
Here are 5 little things on my gentle summer bucket list ⤵
#1
See a drive-in movie
#2
Watch a baseball game in person
#3
Go on a family camping trip
#4
Farmer’s market Saturdays
#5
Slow, sweet, do-nothing days at home
If there’s time left over after all that, I might do these too⤵
#6
Take my kayak to a new spot
#7
Hike in the White Mountains
#8
Swim in a waterfall
#9
Read a good book in a hammock
#10
Eat veggies from my little garden
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I can’t help but wonder, what’s on your summer bucket list this year? Is it a big adventure kind of summer for you or a gentle one? If you’re up for some email sharing, I’d love to chat about it. (You can click Reply to this email or message me here.)
And if you happen to be someone who’s known your own friend like Blanche for a while too, here’s a good book that helps me manage my anxiety. I wrote about it a while back when I first learned I had anxiety and that I could manage it from the inside out (mostly, at least).
I’m off to do a little bit of nothing today and maybe catch that baseball game tomorrow (the Portland Sea Dogs are having their annual Bean Suppah game tomorrow night and I have tickets!) Then, on Sunday, I have the incredible opportunity to talk about Blanche with educators from all over the state in a wellness workshop I’m teaching. More on that next week :)
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So much love,
Celeste