A summer vision board
My favorite long form content and things I will be doing off my phone this season
Summer in the Pacific Northwest is taking its sweet time to arrive this year. We only have experienced a few days of real summer but mentally, I am more than ready to spend my afternoons basking under the sun, eating overpriced cherries. This week, as I was journaling my intentions for the season and putting together my vision board, I realized a big theme: my mind and soul are craving an offline summer.
After reaching a serious point of exhaustion and burnout last year with my self-diagnosed social media addiction, I’ve been slowly trying to build a new relationship with the Internet. I decided that I no longer wanted to build a personal brand out there (or anywhere), but rather focus on living a real life, in the real world.
I am still consuming a lot of content online, but this year I’ve been leaning more towards longer-form pieces. Here is a lil roundup of what I’ve been consuming lately, that has left me feeling energized rather than anxious or annoyed.
Reading
Books and comics
The 48 Laws Of Power, by Robert Greene - If you ask me, the book can be a little problematic and I am taking everything with a grain of salt. With that being said, I am enjoying SO much. Especially reading the history research that was made to bring this book to life and all the valuable lessons we can find in centuries’ worth of knowledge.
A silly old Peanuts comic from the 70s to balance the heavy vibes of the book above.
Side note: It’s my first time going through a comic and has been such a delight! There’s something about reading a story filled with doodles and dialogue bubbles that makes me feel like a little kid again. Highly encourage you to explore your local thrift store and give a comic a chance!
Newsletters
So hard to only pick a couple but otherwise this would be the longest issue:
Watching
I recently saw Tyler’s conversation on pivoting careers, perfectionism and promoting your work as an artist and it left me so inspired. Thanks to Yancey Strickler for sharing this gem in his newsletter.
Can’t stop listening to Sabrina’s performance on BBC Radio! I’ve been viewing/ listening to it non-stop while making breakfast every morning.
I’ve been coming back to my roots and catching up with my favorite YouTube people. Jenny’s vlogs are always a massage for my brain. Enjoyed this one so much in particular, where she gave us a sneak peek into her days visiting Vancouver Island this year.
Listening
This episode of The Modern Retail Podcast was so good. An interview with Alyse Borkan, the founder of one of my favorite brands, Rocco. It left me dreaming about having my own brand one day!
Side note but also related: Really loved this landing page on Rocco’s website encouraging customers to be outside hanging out on Saturday night instead of shopping online. In an era where brands are almost shoving products down our throats it’s refreshing to see brands like Rocco do the opposite. Also, the playlist was actually very good btw. Marketing bbs, any thoughts on this strategy?
I’ve listened to this episode quite a few times and often go back to it when I am feeling inspired, highly recommend it when you are trying to break a creative block. Kassandra’s voice is heavenly. She also happens to be one of the most talented ceramists out there so she knows what she is talking about here.
How I am getting my attention span back to normal
There are days when I succeed at being more present and forget about my phone for hours. But on other days, I go down a rabbit hole following all my Instagram ads or end up viewing Instagram stories of people I don’t care about without even realizing it. In The Utopia of a Life Offline, I go deeper into all the things I am experimenting with to live a more authentic life offline while still getting to use social media in a way that feels good to me. In a perfect world, I delete all social media apps (I deleted TikTok early this year which feels crazy to me!) but is not that simple.
The bottom line here is, I am determined to be conscious about what I am consuming online and I want to be fully present in the real world this summer. Have time to listen to my thoughts and form my own opinions. Experience for the first time in years what it’s like to not be entertained every minute of the day. I crave being unavailable without feeling guilty and getting rid of that sense of urgency that never seems to go away.
Here are 10 other things I will be doing this summer instead of being chained to my phone.
I wish an abundant and wholesome Summer for all of us. One where we get to protect our peace of mind by setting the right boundaries —both online and IRL. Will see how it goes and report back in the Fall, ok? Love you!
I really love Jenny's vlogs too.
I’ve also read The 48 Laws of Power and even wrote about it in my newsletter 💌 but as you said you need to take everything with a pinch of salt! I’ve also read Mastery and the Laws of Attraction. It’s a similar format and you might enjoy it too!