Before you do September, can you remember your Summer?

Filling up on life, by taking stock.

Hello Carousellers,

It’s so nice to be back in contact after my August off. Will Carousel be back as a weekly thing? WHO KNOWS. I’m still emerging but it would be nice to write to you more this Autumn.

The change from August to September always feels like such a threshold moment. Honestly, someone tried to book a meeting with me on Aug 30th and I was like ‘ARE YOU MAD’ and then as soon as my phone switched to 1st Sept, I was breathed a sigh of relief and went to WH Smiths to buy new stationary. Let’s DO this.

I find the switch from the high-energy, shapeless summer to the rhythm of a back to school routine very soothing. I love summer, and I’m also so ready for the end of it by the time September comes around.

But it can also bring up sadness. Gosh - endings endings endings. I’ve been speaking to a lot of friends this week about the mixed emotions present in the arrival of September. Was this summer everything I wanted it to be? Have I had the brat girl summer of my dreams?!

This is why on the 31st August I sat down and did an inventory of Summer 2024.

I wrote down everything I could remember from May-August. Then I got my camera roll out to add some more. (BTW I bloody love reminiscing and nostalgia - so this is very enjoyable and therapeutic for me. At the end I’ve put some other suggested ways you may like to take stock of your summer.)

I’d been wallowing in some sadness in the final days of August, something that I tend experience every year after my late summer birthday (the turning of age prompts me to question where I am, especially around having children…), and I was blown away by how this simple exercise of remembering nice things shifted my mood. I felt like I was being filled up with some sort of sonic honey from my toes to my head, each nice memory adding to the overall feeling of enough-ness. Returning to self - ahhhh yes, that too, and that!

Of course there were some undeniable standout things this summer: I got to perform at Glastonbury! (still cannot believe). We had some epic parties at our house. I solo hiked along the coast of Spain.

But some of the moments I re-discovered weren’t the big showy ones, but small, precious moments:

• Happening upon a Salsa takeover with my housemate at the Spiegeltent at Brighton Fringe and feeling like we were abroad, twirling around in the sunshine all afternoon.

• Eating croissants in bed and listening to the entire album of A Rush of Blood to the Head in track order like it was 2002 with my friend who wasn’t going to Glasto that year, but had been my Glasto buddy since 2019.

• Practising with two friends to sing at Love Trails, drinking water out of disco ball cups and realising our 3-part harmonies sounded pretty amazing (‘‘umm, guys I’m worried we’re too good!’’. And that we all lived 2 mins from each other and this was our life now: we could just meet up and sing together.

• A cold caña (and then another) after a day of hiking in the sun, sitting in an outdoor bar in a small town in Galicia, eating chipirones and chatting in Spanish with a new friend I’d met walking that day. I love how walking routes mean you can spend intense hours with a complete stranger, and then the next day you might not see them again. But when you reach the destination that day it’s like you’ve been walking together forever.

• A massive sun hat I bought from a charity shop that made everyone have a different character: Aussie outback ranger. Posh woman at a flower show. Spanish gossiping señora. Rich American on holiday.

• Everyone dressing up for two friends’ wedding party in Brighton (when we usually see each other in beach wear) ‘ooooh you look so nice!’, ‘Wow!’ It felt like prom night at school!

• Squealing as I jumped in a river with my friend on Dartmoor and then sitting in the dark watching the stars come out and chatting about life.

• Taking baby Ayla around the park and watching her touch moss and leaves.

Our gorgeous Dartmoor sunset swim… idyllic

The inventory also took me through the challenging moments, and I was able to see the fullness of this summer, like a chart that went up and down through the highs and lows of my emotions. There are so many ways I could present my summer to you, and I could just focus on big highs, keep it looking peachy. But I think it’s much more connecting and human to tell you that this summer has been really hard in moments too. But I’m also proud of the space I left to be with it all. That’s something that I’ve learned in recent years, that we HAVE to leave space for the fun* but we also have to leave space for the feeling. And although at times it felt really uncomfortable, that I wanted to run away on the next train to whatever festival was happening, that I noticed that I did need to stay put, be in my body and catch up with myself. So I’m celebrating that too.

*Last year I went straight from a house party to a 6am flight to Spain for my Mum’s 70th. My Dad wanted to lead us on an in depth history tour of some old building. I hadn’t slept and just blurted out ‘THIS ISN’T FUN!!!’. It’s now become a catch phrase in our family. But I do think I really struggle when things aren’t fun and things are painful (CLASSIC ENNEAGRAM 7)

So, if you have the ganas (if you’re up for it), I invite you to capture YOUR Summer 2024.

This could look like:

• Writing down a list of memories in your journal

• Making a playlist of tunes that have made up your summer and then having a big dance party

• Printing off some photos of key moments

• Sketching some nice memories in cartoon form

• Going on a walk with a significant person you’ve spent the summer with and chatting through favourite moments

• Thinking about who you are now because of Summer 2024

• Doing some screen printing and creating one or two phrases that sum up your summer

• Writing a haiku (syllables 5/7/5)

  Here’s mine:

  Summer twenty-four

  So much colour and BIG FEELS

  Thank god for the tunes

I also wanted to write about my August off work, because for those of you who work for yourselves (and I know a lot of you who read this do), this whole ‘time-off’ malarky can be quite the enigma. But I’m also wondering if that’s enough for today…? And I think I’ll write to you more on a separate Carousel. Let’s ease back in ‘eh?

Hasta pronto and thanks for being here

Sarah x

ps. feel free to share your playlists and haikus in the comments!