The T.C.L.C - Summer Without Pressure

Do you ever feel like there seems to be an unspoken expectation that summer should be extraordinary? The perfect photos, packed calendars, and even expensive days out... While some might enjoy and even thrive on this, it really isn't the only way to embrace and enjoy summer. Somewhere along the way, the season that invites us to ensure that we are present and soak up fleeting moments has become another thing that has to be 'done well'. If you ask me, summer doesn't have to be filled to capacity to be meaningful, maybe we can enjoy summer without pressure.

For families, especially those with young children, the most treasured memories are rarely the

biggest adventures. They're often found in the ordinary moments, the ones that unfold naturally when there is space for them. It's these moments that as adults they will look back on with fond memories. The barefoot mornings in the garden, the strawberries picked straight from the plant, the evening walks as the swallows swoop overhead? Sandpits and paddling pools, making box forts in the kitchen.

I think it's important to notice, that these sorts of moments are the ones that help harbour a sense of comfortable anticipation. If these moments are anticipated as children, it can bring a sense of comfort as adults. Realistically for some, like us, yearly summer holidays just aren't an option, so they don't allow for a secure sense of what's coming (some people's summer revolve around holidays and I'm sure that's lovely, but I've also seen the sense of... almost loss if it can't happen for any reason), it's not something stable to look forward to, but moments like strawberries being in season or an evening bird spotting and collecting feathers which come each year allows for something tangible to look forward to. Knowing it's a cycle that returns yearly brings that comfort children long for and the safety so many adults might loose.

I genuinely think that in a world where everything is at your finger tips, we're at risk of loosing that sense of anticipation, how to genuinely look forward to something. It's no different to the quick fix dopamine of scrolling social media, if things are too instant it alters our brain chemistry and we constantly seek more yet feel less fulfilled. It's vital we find that genuine anticipation of seasonality, embracing the wheel of the year as a fantastic natural comfort blanket, helping support us through stressful moments and tougher times.

Isn't that what summer should really be about, a quiet invitation to notice, the lighter nights practically beg us to absorb more. Children instinctively seem to understand this, just look at the joy in building dens or watching butterflies, maybe as adults we can sometimes be guilty of forgetting that these moments are enough.

Children rarely remember whether every weekend was filled with exciting outings. More often they remember helping to water the vegetables, making daisy chains, climbing trees, and returning home with muddy wellies and pockets full of tiny treasures. Over the years I've worked with thousands are children in different schools and clubs, when asked what their favourite bit of the summer holidays was, I hate to break it to you adults, but 9 times out of 10, it was something small, unmanufactured and something beautifully innocent I guess, a picnic or a barefoot walk.

Considered living isn't about creating a picture perfect life. It's simply not possible to live a Pinterest perfect aesthetic and it not absorb you, I've tried, trust me... The stress when Evans and Moose first launched about the curated, perfect tone, composed Instagram feed... I managed maybe a month and realised it was all consuming, life isn't like that, there's mess and things out of place and actually I'm kind of glad. It's about choosing presence over pressure, slowing down enough to appreciate what's already here, and allowing the seasons to shape the way we live rather than constantly trying to keep pace with them. Summer invites us to eat what's in season, to spend more time outdoors, to welcome neighbours for simple suppers (if you like your neighbours, if not, be sure to waft all the delicious BBQ smells over the fence towards them so they know what they're missing...), to read in the shade, and to end the day watching the sun dip behind the hills instead of rushing towards tomorrow's plans. These quiet rituals may seem ordinary, but they are often the moments that anchor a childhood and bring a sense of calm to adult life.

Summer doesn't ask us to do more. It simply asks us to be present, to notice the abundance around us, to embrace the slower pace of the season, and to enjoy the simple pleasures that so often become the memories.

This blog post could easily be three or four pages long, but again, I'm taking my lead from the season, I don't need to cram it full of everything, maybe like summer less is more. So, I hope you find some solace in the idea that summer, whether the complete season or just the six weeks of 'summer holidays', is already full of small moments that can comfort you through the winter in the form of memories that promise they will return again for years to come. Nature creates such special moments, don't speed past them. And if you have kids, being present and finding simple, seasonal inspired traditions can and will be something they remember forever.

#farm #slowliving #lesspressuredsummer #summerplans #summer #schoolholidays #consideredliving #seasonalliving