The last day of summer [25th of august]
My reflection on summer 2024
I didn’t have any summer plans. Really.
I knew that I’d be in Boston after my exams at the beginning of July and that I’d visit my cousin in Barcelona at the end of the month.
August was empty.
No plans.
That was exactly what I needed.
I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to have a "rot girl summer."
Not a single fiber of my being could have managed to get up and have a brat girl or hot girl summer.
This year was for rotting. Thinking. Growing.
In silence.
Reading, running, swimming, eating, and spending time with family.
Even though it was a little bit more dramatic than the romanticized version I’m delivering to you right now, I am incredibly thankful.
I have learned so much about myself in those few weeks. Not only that, I set my values straight.
Boston
Boston was a very eye-opening experience for me.
To me, the city had a unique blend of somber, intellectual, and vibrant energy.
Breakfast at Tattes, walking at least 20.000 steps a day, visiting the national library, Harvard, and MIT—very sophisticated, extremely motivating!
I also met people my age who have high ambitions for themselves, straight goals, and act on them. Calling it inspiring doesn’t begin to capture how deeply it impacted me.
I kept studying the whole summer, trying to find ways to make my newfound vision come to life.
Barcelona
Barcelona was a short but very necessary break. I was on holiday with my sister, and we visited our cousin there. We experienced the city from a local’s perspective since we stayed at a family friend's place. Beach days, brunches, and city strolls—not a single thought about what happens outside of Barcelona. Just us and the city. The only problem was that we might come off as stalkers towards the cute ice cream shop owner around the corner.
I realized that I had to listen more to my body and that I might act extraordinarily well in a stressful situation but often feel completely unbalanced when things finally calm down. Ironic huh.
August
I will not get into the drama that surrounded me the rest of the summer; it had a huge impact on me, but it’s not my place to talk about it.
I spend most of the time at my family home in the countryside.
Fresh vegetables right from the plant, tanning all day, reading books in the garden, lunch at grandma's, running in the mornings, chasing the sunrise—I even picked up golf.
It was magical.
It doesn't mean it was less painful because of that.
Growth always is; otherwise, you wouldn't change.
The final chapter
Yesterday was my last day in my self-proclaimed paradise. A paradise that serves you Eve's forbidden fruit every day for breakfast. I never ate breakfast; I wanted to stay in my pretty illusion.
Today I woke up in my apartment in Vienna.
I had to take a painkiller in the middle of the night because I had a terrible migraine. And maybe it was the paracetamol, or just the seasons changing that night, but in that twilight between waking and sleeping, I felt like shedding a skin. Like a snake. I knew I had changed.
It’s the 26th of August, and with my first conscious breath, I realized that it was fall.