A reflective summer recap of books, movies, music, podcasts, and simple pleasures—and what slowing down, savoring, and making space taught me this season.
Savoring Summer: Slowing Down the Last Days of a Magical Summer
There is something different about August.
Summer is still very much here. The heat hasn’t gone anywhere, the afternoons are still long and bright, and there is plenty of time left to enjoy the season.
And yet, I can feel the edges of summer beginning to soften.
Maybe it is the subtle shift in the light. Maybe it is simply knowing that September is waiting around the corner.
Or maybe I’ve finally slowed down enough to notice.
When I began this summer, I was ready for a change in rhythm. I had been longing for summer since late April or early May. Something inside me was simply done.
My can-can no longer.
So I slipped into summer.
I shifted my mornings and evenings. I chose softer stories. I listened to music that lifted my spirits. I allowed myself a little more imagination and a little less seriousness.
And somewhere along the way, I found myself wandering into a personal Summer of Magical Realism.
It wasn’t a theme I planned.
It simply happened.
And now, as summer begins to wind down, I’m realizing that one of the unexpected gifts of the season has been learning to savor it.
Not squeeze every last drop from it.
Not turn it into another project.
Just savor it.
What Has Been Keeping Me Company
One of the things I’ve enjoyed about this summer has been paying attention to what I’ve been reading, watching, and listening to.
Not necessarily because everything needs to become a recommendation.
Sometimes I simply enjoy noticing what catches my attention during a particular season of life.
These are some of the things that have accompanied me through August.
Podcasts
I’m finally caught up with Spirit Outspoken.
That feels like a small accomplishment considering how much catching up I had to do!
At the moment, I think I’ll remain subscribed. I’ve enjoyed having it as part of my listening rhythm this summer, and I’m curious to see what comes next.
I’m also still subscribed to The Nourished Nervous System.
I haven’t gone back through the older episodes yet, although I may eventually do that. Sometimes knowing something is there is enough. I don’t have to consume it all immediately.
That may be another little lesson in slowing down.
Music
One of my favorite discoveries this summer has been Millionaire Muse.
I’ve become increasingly mindful of the words I allow into my day. The words we hear repeatedly—and especially the words we sing along with—can shape the way we think, feel, and see ourselves and our lives. So I’m enjoying music that feels life-giving, encouraging, and grateful. If I’m going to have something playing in the background of my day, I want the words accompanying me to add something good.
I originally stumbled across them on Facebook, but I’ve since found them on Instagram as well. I also frequently listen to their YouTube channel while I’m working.
And now comes the difficult part.
They are also available on iTunes.
So I’ve been trying to decide which six songs I might want to add to my own playlist.
Only six?
Yes, because I have to be a good steward of my resources.
This is proving much harder than anticipated.
Apparently curating a playlist is serious business.
Movies & TV
I’m still carrying a little of July forward with About Time, which continues to be one of those movies that makes me think about time, relationships, and the ordinary moments that make up a life.
I also watched Return to Me, another tender story about love, loss, and unexpected second chances.
And perhaps that’s fitting for August.
There is something about this time of year that naturally makes me think about endings and beginnings—not necessarily dramatic ones, but the quiet transitions that happen as one season gives way to another.
Books
My reading continues to move between fiction, nervous system and emotional healing, spirituality, financial stewardship, and physical well-being.
This month’s stack includes:
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
- The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.
- Becoming Supernatural by Dr. Joe Dispenza
- Stewardship: The Responsible Management—Caring for Resources with Integrity by Esther Jameson
- Ayurveda Beginner’s Guide by Susan Weis-Bohlen
And I find it rather fitting that One Hundred Years of Solitude made its way onto my summer reading list.
Of all the books I could have chosen to close out a summer of magical realism, this one feels almost inevitable.
The other books continue the exploration I began earlier this summer: caring for the nervous system, exploring spirituality, thinking differently about stewardship, and learning more about caring for the body.
The categories may be different, but the underlying question remains much the same:
How do I want to live?
A Little Summer Sweetness
And then there is homemade lemonade.
Nothing complicated.
Just lemonade made at home and enjoyed cold on a hot summer day.
I’ve come to appreciate these little things more.
They don’t need to be elaborate to be special.
Sometimes pleasure is simply noticing what is already available to us and allowing ourselves to enjoy it.
What I’m Taking With Me
When I look back over these three months, I’m struck by how organically this summer unfolded.
In June, I was simply ready to slip into summer.
I wanted softer mornings, slower evenings, lighter stories, and room to breathe.
In July, I began thinking more intentionally about what I was allowing into my life. My reading evolved into five areas of well-being—imagination, emotional health, spiritual growth, financial stewardship, and physical health.
And now, in August, I’m finding myself less interested in adding and more interested in savoring.
Perhaps that is part of the natural rhythm of a season.
First we enter it.
Then we inhabit it.
And eventually, we begin to let it go.
Making Space
I’ve been thinking about that word lately:
Surrender.
Not surrender as in giving up.
Something gentler.
The willingness to stop gripping something simply because it is familiar.
The willingness to acknowledge that something has served its purpose.
The willingness to make space.
Maybe that’s what August is offering me.
A little reminder that I don’t have to carry everything forward.
Some books will be finished.
Some won’t.
Some songs will make their way onto the playlist.
Others won’t.
Some habits and ideas will become part of my life.
Others will simply belong to this particular summer.
And that’s okay.
Not everything good has to become permanent.
Some things are meant to accompany us for a season.
We enjoy them.
We learn from them.
We let them shape us.
And then we make room.
The Gift of a Slower Summer
I think this may be the real gift I’ve received from my Summer of Magical Realism.
I gave myself permission to slow down.
I gave myself permission to read something simply because it sounded interesting.
To watch a movie because it made me feel something.
To listen to music that lifted my spirit.
To make homemade sorbet and lemonade.
To notice the sky.
To allow a little more wonder into ordinary days.
And perhaps most importantly, I learned that slowing down doesn’t mean standing still.
There can be movement in stillness.
There can be growth in rest.
There can be nourishment in pleasure.
And there can be wisdom in knowing when to release something rather than trying to carry it into the next season.
So I’m not quite ready to say goodbye to summer.
Not yet.
For now, I’m going to savor these last long days.
I’ll drink my lemonade.
I’ll listen to a little more Millionaire Muse.
I’ll read a few more pages.
I’ll let the stories carry me wherever they want to go.
And when the season is finally ready to change, I’ll let it.
Maybe that’s enough.
Maybe that’s the whole point.
Sometimes we don’t need to hold on.
Sometimes we simply need to be grateful for the season we were given—and trust that whatever comes next will have something of its own to offer.