You wake up on May 21, the first day of summer break. The time has finally come when you can relax in your bed past seven o’clock in the morning instead of at an uncomfortable desk. You look up at your ceiling admiring the sweet summer air you have been imagining since winter and fall. There are so many countless options of things you can get up and do. Or better yet, you could live out the good old days of sleeping in again. You’re about to experience three months’ worth of free time until the school year comes back around. What to do, what to do?
Think about the activities you can do in the summer. You could call up some friends to hang out, have a chill pool or beach day, spend time with family, or have a self-care day just for yourself. Well, I say, we start with that last one. In my opinion, self-care is the most important step you should take when it comes to living a joyful life, and of course, a joyful summer.
“After most self-care days, I feel so fulfilled and exuberant. It’s definitely become an important factor in my weekly routine,” sophomore Madeline Young said.
There’s nothing like the feeling of contentedness with clean, clear skin and feeling generally great about yourself. Picture this, you start your summer day with an energizing breakfast and then, in the afternoon, you may watch a rom-com with a side of lunch. Now with a yummy dinner and a refreshing shower to tire yourself down, you begin to lie in bed and think about the confident and caring woman that you are. Now that sounds like a fortifying self-care day to me.
Mid-summer arrives and still with so much left to do, being with the people closest to you seems like the best option. Now close your eyes and visualize. The fourth of July is coming up, and you decide to spend it with your friends or family. The day is filled with sparklers in your hands and photoshoots wearing red white and blue. As you celebrate America’s birthday with the people that you love most, you admire the vibrant fireworks in the sky and the next two blissful months ahead of you.
To me, summer is all about enjoying yourself. It’s about fulfilling the desire for the warm free days you couldn’t get for ten months straight. It’s a time to regroup and give yourself a break from the seven rooms you used to go to 46 minutes at a time each day. It’s a time to breathe, refresh, and just be carefree. I like the feeling of no responsibility. Everything becomes simple; you have the option of being alone or with others at any time of the day. It is nothing but pure happiness and chill vibes.
As Oliva Newton-John would say, the summer days have “drifted away.” It is now the day before school starts. You think about all the fun you’ve had this summer. More importantly, you think about what a success this summer has been as you check your social media to see everyone else’s “goodbye summer” posts. The next morning you wake up to the painful sounds of your alarms and walk back into school to see your peers all excited to be back. It’s bittersweet in your mind as you begin a mental countdown for the gleeful season we call summer to start back up again.