haven't you heard? it's serotonin summer!

a list of summery things for the soul

Hello readers! It’s June which means it’s summer in my head, even though it’s cloudy outside and it hasn’t been over 17 degrees in weeks :)

Summer has been my favourite season since I was a child, mostly because my birthday is in July but over the years, I’ve also come to love autumn and spring too. I have a hard time picking my favourite season but summer always has a special place in my heart. I love the intense heat, my Caribbean soul comes alive in these months, Notting Hill Carnival? Absolutely, the sun shining until 9 sometimes even 10 pm, give. it. all. to. me.

Here is my ode to summer. Enjoy!

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• The sound of ice clinking in glasses

• Closing my eyes and angling my face to the sunshine

• Days that seem to stretch on forever

• Spending full days outside on the grass, perhaps with a couple of sweet things for the mouth and the ants, books, journals, pens dispersed on a blanket, the distant sound of bees and birdsong, the gentle rustle of leaves, a lawnmower at work somewhere

• Ice creams that acquiesce with the heat, dropping lazily down your fingers and wrist

• Car rides with the windows down

• “It’s too hot to move”

• Sitting in parks with friends, no plans, no schedule, just the passing of time

• The feeling of ice-cold drinks swimming down your oesophagus and spreading in your chest

• Sandals

• The collective feeling of wanting to “soak up the sun”, never waste a sunny day, the urge to get out there and stretch your hands to the sky asking for your slice of sunshine

• Summer dresses

• Vibrant clear blue skies providing the perfect backdrop for the tallest and greenest trees

• The sound of aeroplanes overhead gently interrupting the sounds of summer

• The smell of BBQs wafting in from nearby neighbourhoods

• Finally putting winter coats and jumpers away, hidden from the eyes, like the sun is all we know

• Reading on the grass under a beating heat

• Feeling the warm breeze pass between the hairs on my bare legs

• The mind always on look out for the perfect temperature, the perfect moment, the perfect day for reading in the sun

• Walking into a shaded area after being in the sun for a while

• Picnics

• Picnics

• Picnics

• The art the sun makes with shadows on your living room walls

• Sunsets at 9 pm, pink, orange, lilac, blue, white, a spill of watercolours in the sky

• Reading books set during the summer, injecting yourself into pages, bringing the heat of the sun with you

• Stepping out into the warm air after being in an intensely air-conditioned building

• Watching my plants bend even further to the light, waking up to them in new positions

• The light pouring into the rooms in my apartment, reflecting off the silly little disco balls a friend gave me as a birthday present one year, dispersing tiny white polka dots on my walls

• Warm summer nights, leaving the house just before sunset in sandals and a light cardigan, just in case

• Meditating without knowing as you lie down on the grass, heart to the sun, eyes open to watch passing clouds or eyes closed to see that violent shade of orange on your eyelids, thoughts somewhere distant, concentration on this very moment, you and the sun, the only two people in the universe on this hot summer’s day

on a nature walk somewhere (aug 2020)

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the quiet list #2

i was a cultural girlie for the night

coping with ugly feelings

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