Meet Me in the Shade
There are people who come alive in the summer. You know the ones… sun-kissed, towel-tossing, effortlessly breezy. I love them. I just don’t know how to be them.
For me, summer has always been a bit of a production.
And not the Broadway kind.
The kind with prep lists, weather apps, and SPF so strong it could qualify as wall paint.
Let me explain.
Before I leave the house, I check the UV index.
Then the air quality, because asthma does not care that it is a pool day.
Then I do a full wardrobe analysis. Can I go sleeveless without burning? What hat will keep me shaded and socially acceptable? Is it time for a spray tan to fake the look of seasonal participation?
Oh, and the hair. I style it, feel great, open the door, and the humidity flattens it into submission. One humid exhale, and it is all over.
It is not that I hate summer.
It is just that summer does not love me back.
"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment."
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
There is No Such Thing as Casual Summer
It is a bit ironic. I am in good shape. I work out. I feel good in my skin. But my skin wants nothing to do with the sun. Years in the beauty industry and time spent as an esthetician taught me more than I ever wanted to know about sun damage. I have done the lasers. I have done the serums. My dear friend Nurse Gigi at Skin Studio 9 NYC has helped me undo years of damage... until I walk outside, and it returns.
There is a white long-sleeved T-shirt I used to dread wearing as a kid and now I own six of them. Full circle.
It is not just the skin. It is the whole elemental mismatch.
The sun is too much.
The air makes it hard to breathe.
The humidity messes with my hair.
The fashion does not work for me unless it involves spf layers.
And by the time I have figured out how to do summer on my terms, it is September. The season is changing. The pumpkin spice is out. And I am just now ready to say, yes, let us go outside.
So, No… I Do Not Hate Summer
I am just someone who has had to create a system to enjoy it.
My relationship with summer is not unlike one of those friendships you love... but can only take in small, carefully timed doses. I need the early mornings, the shaded corners, the cool evenings. I need a heads-up, some prep time, and maybe a backup plan.
Sometimes I look at other people soaking in summer like it is effortless—and I wonder what it would be like to have a body built for it.
But that is not my story.
And honestly, I am okay with that.
Meet Me in the Shade
These days, I do not try to fit the season. I let it come to me in ways that work.
I take morning walks. I pack layers. I find joy in cool kitchens, cold mocktails, and novels set in sun-soaked places I would never survive, so I can live summer from the page, not the patio.
So if you are like me, if summer is not your soulmate but maybe your occasional crush, I just want to say: I see you.
You do not have to be solar powered to have a meaningful season.
Find your version.
Wear what works.
Do summer your way.
And if you ever need a buddy who will skip the sun-drenched picnic and choose the shady bench with you...
I will be there.
Under my hat.
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