A friend recently sent me a reel of a little girl, Emi, in full ski gear, telling her mama (who somehow knew wisdom would come spewing from her little girl and captured it all on video) that she is not a “zoomer-arounder” but she is a “calm, lay-around person.” This conversation happened in the middle of a ski run where Emi was trying to explain to her mom that she didn’t want to take the difficult run—that she’d rather be laying around at home with her Squishmallows all day, only getting up to brush her teeth. My friend, Sunshine, a card-carrying lay-arounder, sent this to me laughing about our differences in temperament. Now, I won’t readily admit that I’m a zoomer. I do enjoy laying around as much as the next guy. And sometimes, especially in the winter, I can lay around all day long, never getting out of my pajamas (which makes getting ready for bed a breeze). But, compared to Sunshine, I am definitely a zoomer.
“ …I’ve been trying to slow everything down and just appreciate the moments that make summer what it is.”
As I’m writing this article, it’s the heart of summertime and all I’ve been doing is zooming. It seems like there is always a festival, concert or activity booked for every weekend day. Add to that weekly Mahjong, golf and many yoga classes, plus the fact that summertime is the busy season in real estate, and I feel like one of those overscheduled kids who falls asleep while eating their Cheerios. I’m plum tuckered.
Yesterday, a friend told me she’d had enough of summertime. She needed a break from doing all the things. Her comment struck me. I thought I was the only one who was ready, even longing, for a reprieve. I find that as soon as summer starts, I’m keenly aware of how quickly it flies by. Suddenly June is over and it’s July already? And then, once August hits, it feels like the beginning of the end. The kids go back to school and we get back into our routines, and things just naturally slow down. And, while I do enjoy zooming and all of the fun moments outside in the sun and rain with friends galore and endless activities, I’ve been trying to slow everything down and just appreciate the moments that make summer what it is. My role model for slowing down is my neighbor, Graham. He spends every evening watching the sunset and the birds coming to his feeder. It reminds me of spending summers in Rome, GA, where we’d gather at dusk to bathe in the magic of fireflies. Our days were busy, but in the evening, we’d all convene and just watch bugs fly around. And it was peaceful and beautiful, and it was the quintessential summer activity.
Maybe the secret isn’t choosing between being a “zoomer-arounder” or a “calm, lay-around person.” Maybe it’s learning to zoom mindfully—to be present in the chaos of summer festivals and equally present in the stillness of watching fireflies. This summer, I’m trying to channel both little Emi’s wisdom about knowing when to rest and Graham’s evening ritual of simply being. Because perhaps the most magical summer moments aren’t just the big adventures or the quiet pauses, but the conscious choice to be fully where we are, whether that’s dancing at a concert or sitting still long enough to notice the light changing in our own backyard.
