5 ways to make summer feel like yours again
for the ones trying to find a little more wonder in ordinary days
Summer,
You are gentle, free, and loving. You bring beauty everywhere you go — to bright sunflower petals, to endless leaves of green, to fields of wheat and gold, softly embraced by the wind.
The way your sunlight illuminates floating dust, warms our skin as it glistens with salt water, and enables the fragrance of wet stone, feels like a gift.
And still, you can be hard to hold onto. Sometimes I feel like I’m chasing after you, trying to gather you in my arms before you slip through my fingers again.
You are my favorite season, and maybe that’s why you can carry so much sadness when you don’t turn out the way I hoped, or when something unexpected gets in the way of fully enjoying you.
I usually feel it in July, when the excitement of June has faded, the rain keeps coming, and everyone seems to be off on their own adventures.
I find myself wishing to be somewhere else, with someone else, doing anything else.
This summer, I want to meet you more gently. To hold you like I would a friend — with compassion, patience, and gratitude.
I want to fall back in love with you in the only way I can—by being gentler with myself first.
These are the five simple ways I’ll try to make summer feel a little more like mine — a little less pressured, a little more lived.
And I’d love for you to join me.
One: Be your own favorite company
Nothing feels easy, carefree, or as gentle as you deserve if you’re not kind to yourself. This summer, I invite you to become your own best friend.
I know that’s easier said than done. But we’re dreamers over here. And I believe in you.
I’m an overthinker. I worry a lot. Many nights, I go to bed with my thoughts spinning in a seemingly endless loop.
And believe me, I know how hard it can be to sit with your own thoughts — when there’s nothing else to distract you from them.
But the thing about worrying and overthinking is that it’s possible to move through them.
When you’re in the middle of it, that can feel impossible. Your mind wants to keep you stuck there, feeding you more anxiety until your fears start to feel like who you are.
I’ve tried a lot of things to help with anxiety, and I can’t say one has helped more than another. Most likely, they’ve all mattered in their own way — therapy, journaling, meditation, acupuncture, literature, endless talks with girlfriends, hobbies, exercise.
But what my life — and the people in it — has taught me so far is this: fear is just that. A thought. A feeling built around some imagined future scenario.
It’s all in my head.
And when it’s all in my head, I have the power to get it out of there.
You are not your fears
Earlier this year, I realized how much fear I had been carrying about the future after deciding I didn’t want to keep going down the secure-job path anymore. That choice led me to move back home with my parents indefinitely, which I’m incredibly grateful to be able to do — even if it isn’t the plan I had imagined for myself.
Money, safety, am I good enough, what if I fail — I thought all of it.
But then I started thinking about my past. About the time I puked in front of everyone in class, including my crush. The time I dropped my pants in front of everyone in fifth grade. The time I moved to London without an apartment, a job, or any friends there.
If fear gets in your way more than you’d like, you’re not alone. I wrote more on this here.
Those moments all had one thing in common: I didn’t think about them.
I didn’t lie awake at night fearing for my future. I didn’t replay everything I’d done, over and over, until I started hating myself.
I just moved on.
And that made me realize something important: there was a time when I had power over my thoughts and fears, which means I still do. I just have to find my way back to it.
Of course, I’m not perfect. I still lie awake some nights, my heart racing with fear and worry over bad things happening.
But what I know now is this: I can hear what my mind is telling me without having to believe it.
I don’t have to make my fears my identity. I don’t have to let them affect me in that gut-wrenching way.
Because fear feels real. But deep down, in that feeling in your stomach — in that inner light, that quiet presence — that’s where you find yourself. Not in the mind.
That feeling always wins. That’s when you come home to yourself.
A gentle exercise
So, the next time you feel scared, try placing a hand on your stomach and telling yourself: no amount of guilt can change the past, and no amount of anxiety can change the future.
Then ask yourself: What is my problem right now, at this exact moment?
The first time might feel a little strange. Maybe it won’t work. Maybe it won’t work the first five times. But in that moment, you’re bringing yourself back to the present — and the present is usually a much kinder place than the imagined future, or the imagined thoughts of others.
So this summer, I invite you to be kind to yourself. To speak to yourself like you would your best friend. To spend time with yourself and cherish it like you would time spent with someone you love.
Because you have the power to be kind to yourself.
And you have the power to enjoy yourself, prioritize yourself, and celebrate yourself.
How I’m going to work on my relationship with myself this summer:
✮ Go on solo dates: read at cafés, thrift shop at my own pace.
✮ Dedicate one hour to my hobbies every day.
✮ Do one lovely thing for myself every day.
✮ Lie on blankets in the garden as often as I can, listening to my favorite songs on repeat.
Two: Name your summer and dream it
I recently discovered the power of choosing a one-word intention for the year, and it’s quickly become one of my favorite things to do.
So this year, I’m going to try it for the summer as well, and I invite you to join me.
Think of the person you want to be. How would that version of you dream about their summer? Then choose a word that moves you in that direction.
The first thing that pops up — the thing that makes you a little nauseous, but also excited? That nervous excitement is your gut telling you what to go after.
For me, the word that popped up was Explorer. That’s who I want to be this summer.
It might sound a little too decisive at first, but it always comes back to joy. To curiosity. To making life feel a little more intentional, a little more playful, a little more like your own.
Living for yourself, romanticizing life — it’s all an exploration of fun.
You’ve got this. <3
What’s your word for the summer?
Dreaming in the shape of lists
Once you have your word, it’s time to make it feel real. That’s where the lists come in.
I love making lists — a summer bucket list, smaller themed lists, all of it. Wishlist items, places to go, books to read, you name it. They’re fun to create, they build excitement, and they make summer feel like something you’re actively living.
Let’s start with the non-negotiable one: The Summer Bucket List.
Write down everything you want to do this summer, big or small. It’s so satisfying to cross things off as the season goes on.
My favorite way to make mine is with pen and paper, but this year I’m going to try making it on Canva as well (there are so many great themes to choose from!).
I’m also going to make it feel like an event, pour a cute drink, put on an album, and make an afternoon of it.
What’s on my summer bucket list so far:
𓆉 Swim in the ocean
𓇼 Garden dinner ✔️
𓆉 Go to a concert ✔️
𓇼 Sing karaoke
𓆉 Picnic at the park
𓇼 Eat ice cream outside ✔️
𓆉 Read a book from start to finish
Other lists to make this season:
✮ Summer playlist
✮ Books to read
✮ Films and series to watch
✮ Foods or recipes you want to try
✮ Wishlist of things you want to buy or create
Three: Choose a hobby just for the summer
Choosing a hobby can feel overwhelming. You start thinking about it, and your mind floods with concerns and reasons why it’s not a good idea — money, obligations, not worth prioritizing, etc.
I think the trick to hobbies is not to make them your identity. That’s where the pressure builds, and where disappointment and high stakes take shape.
When we were kids, we’d try anything that sounded fun. That’s because we went in pursuit of joy, not validation, reassurance, or safety.
You did it once, you can do it again. <3
So: what if it’s just for one summer?
I’ve always wanted to learn to play the guitar. That thought is reassuring, hopeful almost. And if you try and fail, what does that say about you?
Let’s see what happens when we rephrase it. Not: I’m going to be a great guitar player.
But I’ll give guitar playing a chance, just for the summer.
That’s how we’re going to think about trying new things this season.
What I’m trying:
I’ve loved cooking for a couple of years now, but recently I’ve found myself making the same five meals on rotation. This season, I want to try making dishes from recipes (I’ve always found it too annoying to go back and forth while cooking).
The goal is to find a new signature dish and to make it a staple in my weekly rotation.
The difference this summer is that I’m not thinking: I don’t like cooking from recipes, so I never do.
Instead, I’m thinking: I’ll give it a try and see what happens. No identity attached!
Four: Go get that fresh air
I never regret any time I spend outside.
The couch is always so inviting, endlessly warm and soft. My legs are often more tired than I’d like. However much I’d like it to, the thought never fails to pop up:
I should go outside.
After a few hours on the couch, reading on the bed, binge-watching my favorite series, there it is, like clockwork.
I usually try to fight it, to come up with reasons why I shouldn’t go. Although many times, the thought wins. And every time, without fail, I feel better once I take that first breath of fresh air.
There’s just something about it, isn’t there?
That’s why this summer, I will make it my mission to go outside before fighting with that inevitable, incessant thought.
If you live somewhere similar to me, in Sweden, you know we can’t always rely on the weather. So we’ll dress for the rain, the strong winds, and the occasional hail.
I invite you to go outside as much as you can this summer. Read outside under a parasol, swap a five-minute scrolling session for a few breaths outside your door.
If you don’t have a garden, have your breakfast by the open window. Let the air in as much as you can. Enjoy the birdsong.
Let’s go outside. I think our summer selves will thank us for it.
Five: Choose curiosity over comfort
“Bees do have a smell, you know, and if they don’t they should, for their feet are dusted with spices from a million flowers.”
— Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine
I want to dust my feet with as many flowers as I can this summer.
I want to take chances. To explore.
Often in life, the moments that stand out aren’t the most comfortable ones.
They’re born out of saying yes to a late dinner when you’d already planned an evening in bed. Going to a concert even though you know your back will hurt from standing. Inviting someone to come along to a picnic at the last minute. Sparking a conversation with a stranger. Climbing the mountain even though you know you’ll get blisters.
It’s so easy to choose comfort over curiosity. Otherwise, we wouldn’t do it.
But what if we reframe it this summer?
Instead of thinking: this will be hard or uncomfortable, let’s think: I can’t wait to see the view from the top of the mountain.
Let’s dust our feet with flowers.
Let’s say yes more than we say no.
Let’s take every chance we get at living.
“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.”
— Albert Camus
Summer, like any season, is a part of life. We can’t expect it to be perfect, because there’s no such thing. But we can make it gentler—less performative.
It’s easier said than done, but maybe, just maybe, these five steps will take us in the right direction — the direction of living for ourselves, finding joy in ordinary moments, and feeling wonder at the beautiful simplicity this season offers.
When July rolls around, I’ll meet the rain, and the days when I am my only company.
I’ll meet the sadness, hold it, and let it go as best I can.
At the end of the day, that is all we can do, really: try our best to dust our feet with flowers, feel the rain come and go, and hold our own hand through it all.
I wish you a soft, gentle, and warm summer from within.
take care,
♡ sofia
If you’re tired of searching for peace somewhere else:
more on one-word intentions:
I love the idea of a new hobby just for summer! Makes me feel like I’d be a teenager all over again. Such a fab idea and post 😍💛
dare I say this may be my favourite article of yours yet. the layout, the writing, the pictures, it all feels so safe. I love this so so much