Late Summer Blues

On this floating planet, we have a tendency to make life revolve around summer. We’ll read this when it’s summer, we’ll complete that when it’s summer, we’ll make changes when it’s summer, we say. This is because summer is the season of freedom. No school, vacations from work, and warm, warm weather: a certain energy is pumped into the air and we all run around on concrete and have picnics in flowery fields. Nothing could ever compare to summer. Summer is the songwriters’ favorite and the poet’s daydream. Life just plays out a little movie-ish and everyone feels things so strongly. Although, because of the way summer enchants us every single June, it is not radical to say the end of summer is one of the most melancholy moments a person can experience. I always find myself dragging my feet along mid-August, spiraling into a frenzy of the ways I spent my summer and especially, the ways I did not. The late summer blues are extremely prevalent this year, and it can be difficult to find your way around them. I invite you to reflect with me as I delve deeper into this phenomenon.

If you’re still school-aged, summer is a break from stress and allows for limitless days. As September grows closer to me and I await all-nighters and exams, I yearn for the early days of July, where there is true magic. These are the times when plucky electric guitar strings boom through your car radio and all the windows are down as you drive; it can genuinely feel like summer will go on forever. Even as I write this I am nostalgic for only a month ago. I feel like I have grown from those days, as if I am wiser now--summer will do that to you. I digress, sadly, there is no way to beat the late summer blues. There are only ways to live the rest of the seasons to the complete fullest, making it so that you are not only awaiting for the summer to be “free.” 

Funnily enough, although I don’t think I will ever not be sad when summer is deteriorating, autumn is my favorite season. There is no better medicine for the late summer blues than the month of October. If you’re feeling upset at school beginning or the upcoming changes that will be upon us, I want you to remember the month of October. A month where school, or work, or anything, is still new enough that productivity is at a high and things feel put together. A month where everything is orange and red and it is still warm enough to not wear a jacket but cold enough to not be all sticky when you walk outside. Just like there is magic in the summer, there is magic in the autumn. So while you may be more tied down, at least there are crunchy leaves to step on and the magical chill in the air on the bright, sunny, colorful days. 

Are there late autumn blues? Absolutely. The late autumn blues are especially dreary because they usually signify a darkening of the sky and a period of time when school or work can feel truly grueling. But we’ll deal with those when they arrive. However, when they do come, just remember being able to see your breath in the air like a dragon breathing fire or the excitement of the first snow transforming your street into a sparkling forest. Remember the good kind of nostalgia that holidays have to offer you and all the twinkling lights that are up around town. Just like there is magic in the summer and in the autumn, there is indeed magic in the winter.

I’m sure you know where I am going with this next—late winter blues! The late winter blues are rarely melancholy and more due to wishful-ness for warmer weather. This makes for an easy transition into the lovely season of spring. Spring is so full of love, flowers, and for many, the end of the school year, or the beginning of a vacation. I’m not quite sure yet if late spring blues exist; like I mentioned, we love to center summer here. But I would like to remind you there is most definitely magic in spring just like the magic in all of the other seasons. 

The point I am prodding at here is that summer is not all there is. While time is restricted in other seasons, it doesn’t mean you cannot start things or live to your full potential when it is not the summer. Yes, summer is special and the end of this one is complex as we dive into an autumn of uncertainty and prototypes of new, old ways. Still, keep this in your back pocket as we approach the beginning of autumn and remind yourself that this season can encompass so much change and foster so many experiences and memories--even though you have to return to responsibilities and become less spontaneous. Let yourself be sentient about endings and beginnings and feel them in the most immersive ways possible; then, continue on and find things you love in the things you seemingly despise.

Remember that while you face these late summer blues, there is still so much injustice going on in the world and there are ways you can contribute--ways that take less than five minutes! Here is a carrd with resources for the whole world: fortheworld.carrd.co/