Boring Summers Are Normal

August 23, 2022

can we talk about the different ideas of summer that many people have? i want to start by explaining mine. mine is relaxation and recuperation. taking time for yourself after a busy and hectic school year is all i want to do. whether that is going to the beach, sleeping in, or doing something with friends, that can be a part of the relaxing.

but another thing that i think is normal, is not hanging out with people every day. i see so many of my old high school friends, or even my friends from college, constantly hanging out with other people for what seems like every single day. but i don’t really do that. to be honest, i hang out with people once or twice a week. the other days i work, i hang out at home, or i even just do normal things alone. i think that is very normal. summer isn’t about filling every day with plans, its about doing what you want.

one of my close friends kept reiterating that this summer has been awful, and that we’ve done nothing. at first, i agreed with him. we didn’t do anything spectacular. but we did some stuff. we got dinners, went to the beach and pool, we went to movies and painted on people’s back porches. we probably both laid in bed until noon almost every day. do you see what i mean? what frustrates me about it is that those are summer days. you can see that not everyone can afford a trip to europe every month during summer, or not everyone can take days of work to travel with friends. honestly, this isn’t even a select few. almost every person during summer feels this way. and if you don’t you are lucky.

i kept getting into the habit of getting off work, and saying to myself, am i really spending my summer doing this? but how else would i pay for nights out at college, or trips to the city, or clothes that i like. these are the days that allow me to have fun at school. on the days that i’m not working, i take time to myself and hang out with my dogs. i want nothing else than that.

i’d be lying if i said that i didn’t want to go on vacations around the world, or to visit my friends around the country more often. that is a given. but i understand that i can’t just do whatever i want too.

so now that a lot of my friends are going back to school, and i am one of the last of my friends to head back, i have some time to reflect that i didn’t have such a boring summer. heres what i did:

i went to the beach with friends i hadn’t seen in months.

i played poker with my best friends from high school.

i went downtown and shopped.

i learned how to bake an olive oil cake.

i spent time working on an environment club proposal for the new school year at a bagel shop near my house.

i thrifted… a lot.

i saw a local band at a local concert venue.

i invited college friends to come visit me in charleston. and they came!

i saw country music live even though i’m not the biggest fan.

i worked at martin’s bbq joint.

i wrote blogs.

i boogie boarded during sunset at the beach.

i went to a friends pool and played die lol.

i bought like 7 new books.

i went to the gym.

i got an internship position at a lab.

i saw the minions movie.

i finally set aside money to visit friends in new jersey.

we took the train into nyc and went to art mueseums and got bagels.

i visited my grandparents after new jersey at their cape cod house.

i got home and went on my friend tripp’s boat and jumped off of a bridge into the creek.

i worked at heavy’s barburger. and martin’s.

i watched handmaid’s tale.

i cooked a lot.

i baked cookies a lot.

i visited my friend mayas house and she loves to bake so i would eat her baked creations with abby.

i played rummikub.

i built a target bedside table.

i played minecraft when it rained.

i made playlists every month.

i made a film book for my freshman year archives.

i took film pics of cool houses by the beach.

i painted weird paintings.

i worked more.

i laid in the sun some days.

i went to so many flea markets and thrift events.

i walked around the beaches near my house.

i went to a van gogh exhibit.

i made videos of my first year of college memories.

i perfected my skin care routine.

i read more of my books.

i’m sure there’s more but i can’t think of many other things at this moment. but i did some stuff! the idea that i sat and did nothing is just not true. i had a good summer, a productive one. i was able to become more creative and got more involved in my future career.

what’s the point of writing this? many people are on different pages of summer. here’s my page: summer is cool and chill. you’re not supposed to do much, and it’s totally cool if you don’t want to hang out with people every day. that’s how summers go.

we aren’t in high school anymore. or at least i’m not. as a college kid, or even older, it’s normal to work, be relaxed, and do your own thing. maybe next summer i’ll set aside some money to go to europe with friends. :)

i just want to encourage you all to try and list the stuff you did this summer. it might help you realize that i didn’t have such a boring summer. but even if i did… boring summers are normal.