Latest / Silver FM 100.6 / How to reclaim the magic of summer, according to Gretchen Rubin
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: This is our glass on this American life. When do
- 0:03Speaker 1: we like It's a good mystery, sometimes about really big things,
- 0:07Speaker 1: but most times the little mysteries are the best.
- 0:10Speaker 2: Are Lost and Found is currently filled with pants.
- 0:13Speaker 3: I don't know what.
- 0:14Speaker 2: I've never seen this happen.
- 0:16Speaker 3: That's true.
- 0:16Speaker 1: This is true mysteries of every size each week, This
- 0:21Speaker 1: American Life.
- 0:22Speaker 2: Wherever you get your podcasts. I tend to romanticize summer,
- 0:30Speaker 2: or at least I have in the past, and I
- 0:33Speaker 2: think that's in part because of movies and TV shows
- 0:35Speaker 2: that were on when I was growing up and in
- 0:39Speaker 2: high school. Is this idea that, like, you were supposed
- 0:41Speaker 2: to go somewhere, maybe far flung for a couple of
- 0:45Speaker 2: months and completely transform, probably have a whirlwind romance, and yeah,
- 0:51Speaker 2: just come back renewed like a totally different person. And honestly,
- 0:55Speaker 2: I have never had a summer like that. It's hard
- 0:59Speaker 2: to live up to that. For me. My fantasy is
- 1:01Speaker 2: more modest.
- 1:02Speaker 4: But it's just the idea that somehow this summer is
- 1:05Speaker 4: going to stretch out empty and full of just time
- 1:09Speaker 4: to feel as I like the way it was when
- 1:11Speaker 4: I was in fourth or fifth grade.
- 1:12Speaker 2: Yeah, I guess it does go back to childhood because
- 1:15Speaker 2: I was wondering, like, where does this really stem from?
- 1:17Speaker 2: This idea of summer as if it stands apart?
- 1:21Speaker 4: You know the school calendar. Yeah, yeah, Hey.
- 1:27Speaker 2: It's Mary el Sagara. You're listening to Life Kit from NPR.
- 1:32Speaker 2: Do you remember when summer meant something? When it felt special,
- 1:35Speaker 2: The long days stretching into weeks, the feeling that there
- 1:39Speaker 2: was more time and more possibility than at any other
- 1:42Speaker 2: point in the year. Our guest today, Gretchen Rubin, has
- 1:45Speaker 2: a plan to help you reclaim that feeling. Gretchen is
- 1:50Speaker 2: a writer. You might know a few of her books,
- 1:52Speaker 2: like The Happiness Project or her podcast Happier. She's also
- 1:55Speaker 2: been on Oprah, and she's a pro at helping people
- 1:59Speaker 2: create meaning from their life experiences. She says, now is
- 2:03Speaker 2: the time to think intentionally about how to make the
- 2:05Speaker 2: most of your summer before it slips away.
- 2:10Speaker 4: So often that summer just flies by and we haven't
- 2:13Speaker 4: taken the picnics, are gone for the day trip or
- 2:15Speaker 4: whatever it was that we thought we were going to do,
- 2:17Speaker 4: because it passes so quickly. I think we do have
- 2:19Speaker 4: this romantic idea of what summer can be. But if
- 2:21Speaker 4: we don't design our summer to hold that it's not
- 2:24Speaker 4: going to happen on its own. That's something that if
- 2:26Speaker 4: we really want it to happen, we have to plan
- 2:28Speaker 4: for it. And like there's something about the fact that
- 2:30Speaker 4: it's just this one season. I think that little bit
- 2:32Speaker 4: of time pressure is actually useful for us because it
- 2:35Speaker 4: gives you that feeling of like, well, I better do
- 2:37Speaker 4: it now, and I need to make a plan now
- 2:39Speaker 4: because otherwise this time is just going to slide by.
- 2:41Speaker 4: Things that can be done at any time are often
- 2:43Speaker 4: done at no time, and so by saying I want
- 2:45Speaker 4: to get it done, this summer can be useful, gives.
- 2:48Speaker 2: It a container, gives it a container exactly. On this
- 2:53Speaker 2: episode of Life Kick, Gretchen and I talk about how
- 2:55Speaker 2: to plan the summer you want, whatever that looks like.
- 2:58Speaker 2: We talk about picking a word as you're guide, creating
- 3:01Speaker 2: a bucket list, sticking to a challenge, and more. We're
- 3:05Speaker 2: going to start though with the word. Gretchen says, one
- 3:08Speaker 2: way to design the summer you want is to give
- 3:10Speaker 2: it a theme. This is takeaway one. Pick a single
- 3:13Speaker 2: word or phrase that you want to embrace this season,
- 3:17Speaker 2: something that captures the feeling you want to have or
- 3:20Speaker 2: whatever you're seeking over the next few months.
- 3:23Speaker 4: So it could be adventure, it could be relaxation. When
- 3:26Speaker 4: you look at people's one word themes, they're often opposite,
- 3:29Speaker 4: like some people will pick more and then some people
- 3:31Speaker 4: will pick less, and some people will pick now, and
- 3:35Speaker 4: some people will pick weight, and some people pick bigger
- 3:38Speaker 4: and some people pick smaller. It's all what you want,
- 3:40Speaker 4: and part of the fun of it is coming up with, well,
- 3:42Speaker 4: what is the theme.
- 3:44Speaker 2: That is going to really please you?
- 3:47Speaker 4: Like mine is ketchup, because I think ketchup is like
- 3:50Speaker 4: a superfood. It has all five of the basic pace, sweet, sour, salty, bitter,
- 3:54Speaker 4: and new mommy, which is extremely unusual. And it has
- 3:56Speaker 4: a kind of a summer feeling because you think of
- 3:58Speaker 4: putting ketchup on your burger or and there's something kind
- 4:01Speaker 4: of whimsical about catchup. It's really just like look for
- 4:04Speaker 4: the whimsy, look for like whatever I can add that's
- 4:07Speaker 4: going to make something elevated and more fun.
- 4:09Speaker 2: Oh, ketchup is a metaphor.
- 4:12Speaker 4: Yes, it's a metaphor for me. It's the symbolic idea
- 4:15Speaker 4: of adding ketchup.
- 4:16Speaker 2: Question, are you also trying to catch up on things
- 4:20Speaker 2: this summer well, very well played.
- 4:23Speaker 4: I didn't even think of that, and that is so
- 4:25Speaker 4: good because that is one thing I try to do
- 4:27Speaker 4: in this summer. Because one of the things that is
- 4:30Speaker 4: true of the summer is it includes July second, which
- 4:33Speaker 4: is halfway day, and halfway day. We're halfway through the year.
- 4:36Speaker 4: So if there have been resolutions that you've made or
- 4:38Speaker 4: goals that you've wanted to achieve, it's good to stop
- 4:41Speaker 4: July second and think, Okay, am I on track? How
- 4:44Speaker 4: am I doing? Do I need to find a different approach?
- 4:48Speaker 4: Do I need to re engage with this? Do I
- 4:50Speaker 4: want to give it up? Have I decided that actually
- 4:52Speaker 4: this isn't something that I want to pursue. Do I
- 4:54Speaker 4: want to mindfully abandon it? That's a good strategy if
- 4:57Speaker 4: something isn't working out, So catch up on July second.
- 5:01Speaker 2: Perfect. Hmmm. I do love a wordplay, so.
- 5:04Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a love a wordplay.
- 5:06Speaker 2: I was an English major. Okay, were you also an
- 5:08Speaker 2: English major? Yes? I was. As people are trying to
- 5:11Speaker 2: come up with their theme, I mean, what advice do
- 5:14Speaker 2: you have for them in brainstorming that?
- 5:15Speaker 4: Think about what is the atmosphere you want to create
- 5:17Speaker 4: or what is it that you want to point yourself
- 5:19Speaker 4: to and then think of, like, what is a word
- 5:21Speaker 4: like a creative, interesting word that has a lot of energy,
- 5:25Speaker 4: and you want to think of a word that really
- 5:27Speaker 4: does have like resonance. Like my sister basically one time
- 5:31Speaker 4: wanted to have resilience, but oh my gosh, right, like
- 5:35Speaker 4: we've all heard that word so many times, a heavy word,
- 5:37Speaker 4: it's tired. So instead she picked bounce and the idea
- 5:41Speaker 4: of like bounce back, bounce into the future, have energy
- 5:44Speaker 4: and like it's a quirky, whimsical, memorable word, but it
- 5:48Speaker 4: really captured the idea of what she wanted, which was resilience.
- 5:51Speaker 4: So sometimes it is fun playing with what are the
- 5:54Speaker 4: words that attract you that stand for the idea what
- 5:57Speaker 4: you're trying to capture from this season, we'll have more
- 6:01Speaker 4: life Kit after the break.
- 6:09Speaker 3: Every episode, if It's Been a Minute, MPR's What's Happening
- 6:12Speaker 3: in Culture podcast starts by asking three questions, who, how, why?
- 6:16Speaker 1: Now?
- 6:17Speaker 3: If the culture's asking it, we're talking about it.
- 6:19Speaker 1: At NPR.
- 6:20Speaker 3: We stand for your right to be curious and indulge
- 6:23Speaker 3: your cultural curiosity.
- 6:24Speaker 1: Follow It's been a minute?
- 6:25Speaker 3: Wherever you get your podcasts, and we'll break down the
- 6:28Speaker 3: zeitgeisty topics that are feeling your feed.
- 6:32Speaker 2: It's easy to feel overwhelmed by skincare advice. Somewhere along
- 6:36Speaker 2: the way, skincare got complicated and started to feel like
- 6:38Speaker 2: good job, But what products and treatments will actually lead
- 6:42Speaker 2: to healthier skin Life Kit made a special newsletter series
- 6:45Speaker 2: to answer that question. Sign up at NPR dot org
- 6:48Speaker 2: slash skincare or find the link in the description for
- 6:51Speaker 2: this episode. I also have been trying to think about
- 6:58Speaker 2: in terms of this what summer truly lends itself to,
- 7:03Speaker 2: because I think we do we want it to do
- 7:06Speaker 2: a lot, and maybe we're unrealistic about what we can
- 7:10Speaker 2: get done, but also what are the opportunities, the realistic opportunities.
- 7:15Speaker 2: And for me, I think it's like looking at the
- 7:19Speaker 2: pleasures of the season, like a juicy ripe peach, you know,
- 7:23Speaker 2: like eating a peach often over the sink so it
- 7:25Speaker 2: doesn't drip fall down my face on my clothes, or
- 7:28Speaker 2: wandering in nature, or watching the sun rise or sunset,
- 7:33Speaker 2: you know, the longer days, allowing yourself leisure rather than
- 7:37Speaker 2: rushing around from one thing to the next. To me,
- 7:41Speaker 2: summer is about slowing down.
- 7:43Speaker 4: Well, and that's a really good thing. Maybe that would
- 7:45Speaker 4: be your one. Your phrase would be slow down or
- 7:48Speaker 4: take your time, something that would capture the idea of
- 7:52Speaker 4: settling into an experience. There is something about the longer
- 7:56Speaker 4: days that just feels like you do have more time.
- 7:59Speaker 2: Yeah. Maybe it also lends itself to exploration. And then
- 8:04Speaker 2: also maybe it's abundance. Maybe juice is my word. Ooh,
- 8:10Speaker 2: I like that word.
- 8:11Speaker 4: That's a juicy word.
- 8:13Speaker 2: Yeah, because like even just the fruit that are available
- 8:15Speaker 2: in the summer, yes, are so very summary. Yeah, and
- 8:19Speaker 2: just like squeezing the juice out of it.
- 8:22Speaker 4: Yeah, you're squeezing the juice out of the summer. But
- 8:24Speaker 4: then you're also enjoying the juicy tomato, the juicy peach. Yeah. See,
- 8:28Speaker 4: that's a perfect example. It's a very summer word. But
- 8:32Speaker 4: this is why I think it's so helpful to think
- 8:33Speaker 4: about it in advance, because if you don't think about it,
- 8:37Speaker 4: the whole summer could go by and you haven't had
- 8:39Speaker 4: a single peach. As much as you love them, it
- 8:42Speaker 4: just there was never the opportunity when you're like, now's
- 8:45Speaker 4: the time, and if you haven't thought about the fact
- 8:47Speaker 4: that it's something that is meaningful to you. It just
- 8:50Speaker 4: might slip by and then they're not in season, and
- 8:52Speaker 4: then you've missed your opportunity. Whereas if you design it
- 8:56Speaker 4: into your summer, then you can really make sure that
- 8:59Speaker 4: it happens and you really have that enjoyment.
- 9:02Speaker 2: That's another takeaway from Gretchen. Take away too. Come up
- 9:05Speaker 2: with a bucket list of things you want to do
- 9:07Speaker 2: this summer. Maybe you want to try kayaking, or see
- 9:10Speaker 2: the sunset at least once, ride the ferris wheel at
- 9:13Speaker 2: a summer fair, or make a tomato tart. You might
- 9:17Speaker 2: even put something on there that you don't necessarily want
- 9:19Speaker 2: to do but you've been trying to cross off your
- 9:21Speaker 2: list for a long time, like cleaning out the garage.
- 9:25Speaker 4: Or like, I'm a very fearful driver, and the more
- 9:28Speaker 4: I drive, the more comfortable I am. But because I'm fearful,
- 9:32Speaker 4: I often don't want to drive. So this summer I
- 9:34Speaker 4: really saying. And I live in New York City, so
- 9:36Speaker 4: I don't have a lot of opportunities to drive up,
- 9:38Speaker 4: but I vowed anytime I have a chance to drive,
- 9:41Speaker 4: I'm going to drive. This doesn't make my summer more
- 9:44Speaker 4: fun because I'm a fearful driver, but it makes it
- 9:47Speaker 4: feel very satisfying because I'm working on something that I
- 9:49Speaker 4: really want to tackle.
- 9:51Speaker 2: But it could be.
- 9:51Speaker 4: Something like fifty summer walks or ten new chicken recipes.
- 9:58Speaker 4: Having a bucket list of things that you want to
- 10:00Speaker 4: try really can make sure that those things get tackled,
- 10:04Speaker 4: even if it's as simple as like a backyard picnic.
- 10:07Speaker 2: How many things do you think one can reasonably put
- 10:11Speaker 2: on a summer bucket list.
- 10:13Speaker 4: Some people love a long list with a lot of
- 10:15Speaker 4: easy things to cross off. I'm kind of a big
- 10:18Speaker 4: fan of that approach myself. Some people like fewer things
- 10:21Speaker 4: that are more ambitious. It's really whatever works for you.
- 10:24Speaker 4: But I think you want to be realistic with yourself
- 10:26Speaker 4: because sometimes it's easy to get discouraged if you set
- 10:30Speaker 4: the bar too high, and then you feel like you've
- 10:31Speaker 4: let yourself down. So pick the things that are really
- 10:34Speaker 4: important to you and really try to follow through with those.
- 10:38Speaker 2: Another idea takeaway three is to come up with some
- 10:41Speaker 2: sort of challenge. Gamify your to do list a little bit.
- 10:44Speaker 2: You know, I'm going to try ten new taco joints
- 10:47Speaker 2: or eat it every diner in the neighborhood. Or read
- 10:50Speaker 2: five romance novels this summer.
- 10:53Speaker 4: People are so creative with this. I mean like Friday
- 10:56Speaker 4: Freaky Flavor, where it's like every Friday they went to
- 10:59Speaker 4: the ice Cream Story and had a Freaky Flavor. And
- 11:01Speaker 4: it's like if you had Friday Freaky Flavor all summer long,
- 11:06Speaker 4: that would really stand out in your mind for that summer.
- 11:09Speaker 4: Right years later, you'd be like, oh, that's the summer
- 11:11Speaker 4: when I discovered, you know, creamed corn ice cream. Sometimes
- 11:15Speaker 4: they're really meant to help us explore, like many people
- 11:18Speaker 4: do challenges related to I'm going to do ten new
- 11:21Speaker 4: hikes or I'm going to try six new exercise classes
- 11:27Speaker 4: to get out of my rut and see if there's
- 11:28Speaker 4: a new kind of exercise that I would enjoy. Sometimes
- 11:32Speaker 4: they're a challenge where it's really something that's difficult that
- 11:36Speaker 4: you really are saying to yourself, Okay, I'm really going
- 11:39Speaker 4: to do this, and I know that it'll make me
- 11:41Speaker 4: happier in the long run, even if it's a challenge
- 11:43Speaker 4: that I don't enjoy. Many adults do not know how
- 11:46Speaker 4: to swim, and this is something that, in my observation,
- 11:49Speaker 4: kind of weighs on them. So maybe this is your
- 11:51Speaker 4: summer when you're going to take swimming lessons and really
- 11:54Speaker 4: learn how to swim, even if that's something that's scary
- 11:56Speaker 4: to you. Maybe this is your summer of dentists or
- 12:00Speaker 4: doctor's appointments, where you're like, Okay, I've got a little
- 12:02Speaker 4: bit more free time. Let me make some appointments that
- 12:05Speaker 4: I've been putting off because I know in the end
- 12:07Speaker 4: it's going to make me feel better to get these
- 12:08Speaker 4: things done, but I need to get kind of work
- 12:11Speaker 4: myself up to it. One of my challenges is to
- 12:14Speaker 4: watch Girls. I've never seen the TV show Girls, and
- 12:17Speaker 4: I want to just like.
- 12:18Speaker 2: Do it. Prepare to be uncomfortable.
- 12:20Speaker 4: Okay, I know that's sort of what I've heard, but
- 12:23Speaker 4: people say it's so good. So I'm thinking, okay, well,
- 12:27Speaker 4: summer's passing. Maybe I just sit down and just watch
- 12:29Speaker 4: a lot of girls.
- 12:31Speaker 2: I think it's a good idea to have some summer
- 12:34Speaker 2: pursuits that are indoors, because sometimes it is unbearably hot
- 12:41Speaker 2: outside in the summer, and I think there's a lot
- 12:44Speaker 2: of pressure to be outside all summer because it's like
- 12:47Speaker 2: I've waited all year for this, but when it's one
- 12:50Speaker 2: hundred degrees I don't want to be outside.
- 12:52Speaker 4: Right, So maybe you have hobby summer and you're like,
- 12:54Speaker 4: I'm going to experiment with renew hobbies or I'm going
- 12:57Speaker 4: to knit something or build somethings, or maybe it's experimenting
- 13:03Speaker 4: with like learning to make homemade ice cream or making
- 13:06Speaker 4: homemade bread or something where you'd come out of the
- 13:09Speaker 4: summer feeling like, oh wow, I really like I really
- 13:12Speaker 4: learned something or did something. I'm playing scrabble with your
- 13:15Speaker 4: family every you know, every night after dinner or something
- 13:18Speaker 4: like that to give it a special flavor.
- 13:20Speaker 2: Yeah, after the break, we soak in the summer through
- 13:25Speaker 2: our senses.
- 13:33Speaker 1: I'm consider this NPR's afternoon news podcast. We cover everything
- 13:36Speaker 1: from politics to the economy to the world, but every
- 13:39Speaker 1: story starts with a question, and NPR we stand for
- 13:43Speaker 1: your right to be curious. It makes sense of the
- 13:46Speaker 1: biggest story of the day and what it means for you.
- 13:51Speaker 1: Follow Consider this wherever you get your podcasts.
- 13:57Speaker 2: All right, Takeaway four is to experience the summer through
- 14:00Speaker 2: your five senses and then reflect what does summer look like,
- 14:05Speaker 2: smell like, taste like, sound like, and feel like.
- 14:08Speaker 4: Our five senses are so important and I think this
- 14:10Speaker 4: summertime is a time where we really think about our
- 14:13Speaker 4: five senses a lot. There's something like just very vivid
- 14:16Speaker 4: about summer. And you can do a five census portrait
- 14:19Speaker 4: either of your summer or of a specific adventure you
- 14:22Speaker 4: had in your summer. Like let's say you took a
- 14:24Speaker 4: family trip and you could do this by yourself, or
- 14:26Speaker 4: you can do this with a group of friends or
- 14:28Speaker 4: with your family and you just go seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching.
- 14:31Speaker 4: So let's say you went on a July camping trip
- 14:34Speaker 4: with your family. You'd say, okay, what were the five
- 14:36Speaker 4: most notable sights that we saw? And then you would
- 14:39Speaker 4: talk about, okay, well what like, oh, that was the
- 14:41Speaker 4: time we saw the bear eating out of the trash
- 14:43Speaker 4: can and we like we almost ran got right.
- 14:46Speaker 2: Up on him.
- 14:46Speaker 4: That would be something that you saw, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching.
- 14:50Speaker 4: You know, it's one thing to look at photographs, but
- 14:52Speaker 4: that's just very flat. But a five senses portrait really
- 14:56Speaker 4: like puts you back into that experience. But maybe it's
- 14:59Speaker 4: for your whole summer. Like what you know, is it
- 15:02Speaker 4: the smell of sunscreen? Is it the smell of chlorine?
- 15:05Speaker 4: Is it the smell of hot dogs, Is it the
- 15:07Speaker 4: smell of cotton candy? Is it the smell of freshly
- 15:10Speaker 4: cut grass? Like, for you, what is the smell of summer?
- 15:14Speaker 4: So this can be a really creative, fun way to
- 15:16Speaker 4: look back on summer and capture the memories that you've created.
- 15:19Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that idea, and I'm sure people could
- 15:21Speaker 2: get really creative with it in terms of I'm going
- 15:24Speaker 2: to make it into an actual portrait, like I'm gonna,
- 15:26Speaker 2: you know, illustrate it, or yeah, absolutely whenever it is.
- 15:30Speaker 2: I want to ask a question for the parents out there, because,
- 15:33Speaker 2: especially if you have kids in the house, you're not
- 15:36Speaker 2: just planning your summer for yourself, You're also planning for
- 15:39Speaker 2: them and for your family as a whole. And so
- 15:42Speaker 2: I wonder how can you get their input about what
- 15:45Speaker 2: they want their summer to be like, but also make
- 15:48Speaker 2: it something where you're meeting your needs as well well.
- 15:51Speaker 4: I think that is a great idea, which is to
- 15:53Speaker 4: sit down and think, like, as a family, how do
- 15:55Speaker 4: we want to design our summer? What does everybody want
- 15:58Speaker 4: from it? And I think sometimes for ourselves and for
- 16:00Speaker 4: our children, we tend to overschedule and there's sort of
- 16:04Speaker 4: a feeling of like we're rushing from one thing to
- 16:06Speaker 4: another and we don't give ourselves a big margin. But
- 16:10Speaker 4: that is another thing I think to think about as
- 16:11Speaker 4: you design your summer is like what is your pace?
- 16:14Speaker 4: What is your energy level? How crowded do you like
- 16:16Speaker 4: your days to be? Because some people really do love
- 16:19Speaker 4: running from one thing to another and like let's jump
- 16:21Speaker 4: in the car and go here and go here, and
- 16:23Speaker 4: they like that feeling and they like that pace, and
- 16:25Speaker 4: then other people, like there's a quotation from throw where
- 16:29Speaker 4: he said I like a broad margin to my life,
- 16:32Speaker 4: and I'm like, I need a broad margin. I don't
- 16:35Speaker 4: like to rush. I like to have a lot of
- 16:37Speaker 4: time in between things. I could spend a whole day puttering.
- 16:42Speaker 4: And my family is kind of the same. So we
- 16:44Speaker 4: take it pretty slow. We don't need a lot of
- 16:47Speaker 4: activities to feel like we've had enough. But for other
- 16:50Speaker 4: people like that pace might be different. And also you
- 16:52Speaker 4: can get into the complication of like some people like
- 16:55Speaker 4: to do a lot, some people want to do less.
- 16:57Speaker 2: But the more you can talk.
- 16:59Speaker 4: About that, the more you can figure out, well, how
- 17:01Speaker 4: do we make this work for all of us?
- 17:03Speaker 2: So this comes up a lot with new Year's resolutions
- 17:06Speaker 2: where you get three weeks into January and you realize
- 17:10Speaker 2: you're not doing the thing, and maybe you don't even
- 17:12Speaker 2: want to do the thing. So what if that happens
- 17:15Speaker 2: in the summer, you know, you set your theme or
- 17:17Speaker 2: your intentions, you make your bucket list, and then you
- 17:20Speaker 2: get to you know, end of July early August, and
- 17:24Speaker 2: you're not doing it.
- 17:26Speaker 4: Well, that's very common, We've all done it. I'm a
- 17:29Speaker 4: big fan of helping yourself remember what you've set. So
- 17:33Speaker 4: like I have an index card that's on the bulletin
- 17:36Speaker 4: board right in my desk, so I see my theme
- 17:39Speaker 4: every time I look to my right to remind to
- 17:41Speaker 4: keep it uppermost in my mind. And then the same
- 17:44Speaker 4: thing with a list so that I remember what's on
- 17:46Speaker 4: my list. Because sometimes you make even so something's really
- 17:49Speaker 4: important to us and we vowed that we're going to
- 17:50Speaker 4: do it, we just sort of forget about it. This
- 17:52Speaker 4: is often why it can be fun to have a
- 17:54Speaker 4: visual representation that's maybe a T shirt or a piece
- 17:57Speaker 4: of jewelry or something like a little thing on your
- 17:59Speaker 4: desk that would help remind you of what you have
- 18:03Speaker 4: set your theme to be, just so that you remember
- 18:06Speaker 4: to do it now. If you get to a point
- 18:07Speaker 4: and you realize, okay, I haven't been living up to this,
- 18:11Speaker 4: you know, it's never too late.
- 18:13Speaker 2: You know.
- 18:13Speaker 4: There's an adage that I love, which is the best
- 18:15Speaker 4: time to play it a tree is twenty years ago.
- 18:18Speaker 2: The second best time is now.
- 18:20Speaker 4: And the best time to have a terrific summer is
- 18:24Speaker 4: when at the beginning of summer. But the second best
- 18:26Speaker 4: time is whenever you think of it, so you're never behind.
- 18:29Speaker 4: You can always just start where you are and jump in.
- 18:31Speaker 4: I think that as much as you can remind yourself
- 18:34Speaker 4: along the way is good. But if you you know
- 18:37Speaker 4: you've lost some time, that's okay.
- 18:39Speaker 2: Just re engage, all right, Gretchen, thank you so much
- 18:42Speaker 2: for this. I always love chatting with you.
- 18:44Speaker 4: Oh, I always love talking to you. I was looking
- 18:46Speaker 4: forward to it. I love the juicy summer. I think
- 18:49Speaker 4: that's a great thing.
- 18:49Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that summer of juice, summer of jewz.
- 18:54Speaker 2: All right, time for a recap. Take away One is
- 18:57Speaker 2: to give your summer a theme. Pick a single word
- 18:59Speaker 2: or a phrase that you want to embrace this season,
- 19:02Speaker 2: something that captures the feeling you want to have over
- 19:04Speaker 2: the next few months. Some other ideas that folks shared
- 19:07Speaker 2: with Gretchen Appalachian granny summer, which means a season filled
- 19:11Speaker 2: with gardening, handicrafts, canning, and learning to make sourdough. Summer
- 19:16Speaker 2: of America's two fiftieth. The US turns two hundred and
- 19:19Speaker 2: fifty years old in July, so this person will be
- 19:22Speaker 2: reading books about US history, incorporating red, white, and blue
- 19:25Speaker 2: into their wardrobe, and taking a trip to Washington, DC.
- 19:29Speaker 2: There's backyard summer or the summer of open water, And
- 19:32Speaker 2: of course, there are lots of single words that you
- 19:35Speaker 2: could choose to remember. Mine is going to be juice.
- 19:38Speaker 2: Take Away two come up with a summer bucket list.
- 19:41Speaker 2: Maybe you want to try kayaking, or see the sunset
- 19:44Speaker 2: or sunrise at least once, ride the ferris wheel at
- 19:47Speaker 2: a summer fair, eat corn on the cob, make a
- 19:50Speaker 2: tomato tart. Take Away three is to come up with
- 19:53Speaker 2: some sort of challenge. Really gamify your bucket list, like
- 19:56Speaker 2: I'm going to try five new types of juice or
- 19:59Speaker 2: read five romance novels. And take Away four experience the
- 20:03Speaker 2: summer through your five senses and then reflect what does
- 20:07Speaker 2: summer look like, smell like, taste, like, sound like, and
- 20:11Speaker 2: feel like. I'll tell you what comes to mind for me.
- 20:14Speaker 2: The smell of smoke from a crackling outdoor fire and
- 20:17Speaker 2: the taste of toasted marshmallows on a stick. All right,
- 20:21Speaker 2: that's our show. By the way, your phone is full
- 20:24Speaker 2: of distractions, why not make sure it's also full of
- 20:27Speaker 2: smart tips and good advice. The NPR app gives you
- 20:30Speaker 2: access to world class reporting, including what's on Life Kit
- 20:33Speaker 2: without a paywall. Download the NPR App today. This episode
- 20:37Speaker 2: of Life Kit was produced by Claire Mrie Schneider. It
- 20:40Speaker 2: was edited by Brent Bachman. Our Digital editor is Malica Gharib,
- 20:44Speaker 2: and our visuals editor is c. J. Rikalon. Megan Kane
- 20:47Speaker 2: is our senior supervising editor, and Lauren Gonzalez is our
- 20:50Speaker 2: executive producer. Our production team also includes Andy Tagle, Margaret Sereno,
- 20:54Speaker 2: and Sylvie Douglas. Engineering support comes from Damien Herring and
- 20:58Speaker 2: Becky brown El Sagatra. Thanks for listening and have an
- 21:03Speaker 2: amazing summer. Freaky Flavor Friday, say that three times fast.
- 21:15Speaker 1: This week on our first from NPR News, President Trump
- 21:19Speaker 1: is at the G seven in France and is supposed
- 21:21Speaker 1: to sign a piece deal with Iran.
- 21:23Speaker 4: That deal, if it happens is planned, will let big
- 21:26Speaker 4: effects in the global economy and more, and we will
- 21:28Speaker 4: track the changes as they unfold. On a week of
- 21:32Speaker 4: major geopolitical news. Listen to Up First every morning on
- 21:35Speaker 4: the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.