Carpe Summer, Carpe Life: How to Live Like the Season Won’t Last Forever

Celebrate Summer for What It Is: A Rare Invitation to Live Fully

In case you haven’t noticed, summer doesn’t stick around long in the Northern Hemisphere. While I firmly believe there’s no bad weather, only bad clothing, summer is an exception. It’s party time for the planet. It’s the season when humans and nature are most in sync, when joy seems to rise naturally from the land, the light, and the air.
There’s a reason we let teachers and students hit pause during this season. Our culture knows, logistically and intuitively, that summer is special. It’s time to make the most of it.

Why Work Can Wait—and Should

In my work life, I’ve come to recognize a simple truth: Summer is not the time to start major projects that involve anyone else. People are away. You’re off when they’re back. The rhythm just doesn’t work. And the lesson? Don’t fight it—flow with it.

Book the Fridays off. Close your laptop at 3. Accept that your Thursday night email will go unanswered until Monday. Instead of resisting the slowdown, embrace it.

A Season Outside the Productivity Machine

Summer is the one time of year when our productivity-obsessed culture gives us a break. It’s the only season where sitting by the pool or heading to the beach doesn’t come with a side of guilt. It’s socially acceptable to prioritize joy over hustle.

For me, that means heading to Puerta Backyarda (my backyard) or my local swimming hole with the kids. It’s an invitation to slow down, savour, and soak it all in—because summer ends.

A Joy List for the Season

To live the season fully, I make a list. Here’s what I love about summer, what I consciously build my days around:

Long, sun-soaked days
Warm evening breezes
Sleeping with windows open (unless a Southern Ontario heat wave says otherwise)
Swimming in lakes
Local fruit and veggies: strawberries, peaches, nectarines, asparagus, peas, lettuce
Lazy vacation days with the kids
Baseball
Camping and cottaging
Music festivals
Golf
Outdoor hangs with friends
Drying clothes on the clothesline
Retreats to the cool basement or blessed A/C

If I find a free moment—say, leaving work early because nobody’s replying to emails anyway—I know exactly what to do. I fill that time with these things. I make it count.

Avoid Regret: Carpe Anything

There’s a powerful antidote to regret: recognize impermanence.

If you know something will end, you’re more likely to make the most of it. That’s why I build my summer like it’s my last. Not because I’m morbid, but because I want to be present. I want to avoid the grief and regret that come from missed opportunities.

Life isn’t guaranteed. For some reading this, this may be the last summer. That’s not a tragedy—it’s a reminder to live.

Stop Taking Life for Granted

Our culture pushes us into scripts about success, material gain, and social status. We stay in jobs or relationships that look good on the outside, but don’t nourish the inside. And when time runs out, we finally realize:

“I wasn’t really living my own life.”

Summer helps us break that pattern. It reminds us that true success is self-defined. That joy is a worthy pursuit. That this moment is what we have.

PS: This mindset about defining success on your terms and living intentionally is at the heart of how we work at Brown Lawyers. We don’t just help clients with legal documents; we help them build lives and legacies rooted in clarity, purpose, and peace of mind.

When you’re ready to take a step that aligns your legal life with your real life, we’re here.

🔗 Discover our coaching-based approach

Don’t Wait for the Wake-Up Call

If you’re reading this, you’re in a summer of your life. You have time. You have space. You have choice.

So ask yourself:

What brings me joy?
What will I miss when summer ends?
What will I miss when life ends?

Do that. Now. Or plan to.