Have you seen those Instgram / TikTok posts going around that are a take on the TV show The Summer I Turned Pretty? People are using “The Summer I…” as the jumping off point to show some pictures of their summer, and renaming it themselves. Things like “The Summer I Stopped People Pleasing” or “The Summer I Chose Myself.” (Or even “The Summer I Spent Way Too Much Money on Matcha.” No judgement!)

Technically, today’s post “should’ve” been my August Favorites post. But honestly, after my trip to Cedar Point at the beginning of the month, my August was incredibly slow. The number of times I left my house was in the single digits. I was struggling to come up with a full list of favorites, so I thought… why not talk about what I have been doing instead. Thus…

“The Summer I Learned to Rest”

I’ve mentioned in posts here and on my Substack about how I’ve been dealing with breathing issues coupled with exhaustion. Even before I hit what I’d call my low point before I left for Cedar Point, my summer looked a lot different than most. Rather than trying to fill my other trips with dinners out, I was filling them with UberEats and rest days in the hotel. Summer nights at home were spent in bed, rather than catching up with friends or going to an outdoor concert.

I read 13 books in July, and 11 in August. I reignited my obsession with playing The Legend of Zelda on my Switch, which had sat untouched for a full year. I spent whole weekends in loungewear, not even putting on a bra once. Today (yesterday, when you read this) I got out of bed around 11 or 11:30 AM, and I’ll get back in bed around 9 PM. I’m spending a lot of time taking it easy.

It’s not the most exciting, truthfully. I love to read, but I love to live my own life, too! It gets frustrating sometimes, when I think about how many other things I could be doing instead. But right now, I know that this is what’s necessary. This is the summer I learned to rest, so that next summer I’ll have the chance to fill in the blank with a new, different phrase.