It’s fun out here… but also, it can be rough out here.

 

This past week, my niece and nephews were in town, so we did it all: Luna Park, The Museum of Ice Cream, The Sloo Moo Institute, one million splash pads, plus Broadway. In the middle of all that, I hosted a few Spark Society things: a co-working day in Cobble Hill, a virtual workshop on AI, and the most magical little dinner with three Sparklers I’d been wanting to connect.

 

Over the best pasta in New York City, we talked about everything from business, marriage, and perimenopause to investing, skincare, and nail polish trends. The next morning, everyone texted to say they were still floating from the conversation and connection, which in turn made me float even higher.  

 

All of this while being “lowercase out of office” -- taking calls between Sloo Moo and the splash pad, switching off with my sister or husband so I could make the pasta dinners + jewelry parties. When a week like this happens, sometimes I feel like a superstar for pulling it off; other times, I feel like taffy being stretched way too thin.

 

For the part of the summer when we’re in the North Fork and the kids are at day camp, I work during the day but also get pulled toward pretty views and spontaneous party invites. Those weeks are amazing, but sometimes I leave them half-fulfilled, like I got plenty of work done and plenty of fun in, but didn’t nail either.

 

Recently, I read a Substack that stopped me mid-scroll. It referenced a study in the Journal of Applied Psychology called “I Need a Vacation: A Meta-Analysis of Vacation and Employee Well-Being.” Reading such an academic article made me feel like I was back in grad school in the best way. One of the main takeaways was that two factors are critical to maintaining a vacation’s long-term emotional and physical benefits:

The writer, Deborah Copaken (whose writing I've loved since I read ShutterBabe in college!), also shared her own story of looking back on vacations when her kids were younger and wishing she had fully unplugged more. One of her now-married, adult children couldn’t make it to this year’s family trip, and it made her realize how precious that uninterrupted time really was. For me, it's the uninterrupted time with both my kids, other adults, and myself. Reading fiction books and staring into space.  

 

I take vacations all the time, but very few where I completely unplug. It made me realize I need to actually label my time off: lowercase ooo means I’m half-working, uppercase OOO means I’m not opening the laptop, not checking email, and not doing anything. (Ahhhh.)

 

Summer’s almost over (for real this time!), and the kids are about to head to Nana Camp for 10 whole days. I’m slightly more emotional about this than usual (Imagine that! It’s all going so fast!), so I’m making a plan for these last couple of weeks: one week uppercase OOO, one week lowercase ooo. I just put the colored blocks in my calendar; someone give me an award! 🏆

 

Some of the plans I have for the last two weeks of summer remind me of how I used to travel in my 20s. I'd stay somewhere with only a couple of nights booked and make up the rest as I went along. There’s nothing that compares to meeting people, finding hidden spots, and saying yes to whatever comes up when you travel like that. It barely happens anymore, but I love the magic of not knowing exactly what’s next. Even if I’m not backpacking in Southeast Asia this time (we're exploring pizzas of New Haven instead – business trip!), my goal is for a teeny bit of that spontaneous summer magic to sneak in. 

 

Wishing you a beautiful end of the summer with all kinds of OOO, but especially knowing which one you’re in.

 

xx,

Leah

 

PS: I've had so many lovely conversations and added on a few clients since I announced I was opening coaching spots. There are three days available on my [ooo] calendar before Labor Day if you want to chat!  

 

PPS: The Spark Society applications are now rolling instead of being quarterly.  If you've been wanting to jump in, no time like the present! And maybe send me a message to make sure I saw it come through.