A woman’s hair is her crown.

Image via My Modern Met

The best thing about fashion is that it embraces the weirdo.

Image via My Modern Met

Susannah is a writer and photographer who  offers creative courses on discovering your true self. Her therapeutic approach to photography is what attracted me to her blog, and I’ve only just discovered that she had a project on this month called August Break. The idea is that you take a picture each day, for the whole of August, or whenever you start (which in my case means, erm August 29th?) and share it on yoru blog. She says:

There are no real rules, basically. This is all about being present and enjoying taking photos just for the hell of it.

What a great concept! So here is my first photo, based on her prompt for Day 1: Breakfast.

Today it was peanut butter on brown toast and fresh orange juice from my island, Chios.

I can’t sleep tonight. As I checked my iPhone out of sheer frustration, the blue glow of the small screen exaggerated the darkness and I felt as though there was an evil man in the corner of my room. This is not random. When I was a child I had a recurring nightmare that I was running through my neighbour’s backyard and about to jump into bed, and all I could see was a black silhouette with red eyes staring at me from the corner of the room, rocking in his chair as I hid under the duvet. Tonight, as I remembered that, I remembered to tell myself, if that devil is outside me, he is my fear. If he is inside me… maybe I am that devil. Suddenly I am not afraid of the dark man in the corner, when I know he is me.

I”m reading Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In. She says that there are several ways to give your life meaning:

• climb the career ladder
• raise children
• seek personal fulfillment
• contribute to society
• improve the lives of others

I reflect on which of those I’m doing, and which I would like to do. Personal fulfillment is top of the list, despite my aspirations to climb ladders. Is this what I want?

She asks: what would you do if you weren’t afraid?

It’s a good question. If I weren’t afraid…. I like thinking about it. It’s fun to imagine all the daredevil moves I’d make, from confessing my desire to have someone’s babies to them to travelling with Doctors without Borders and/or the UN PeaceCorps. I wouldn’t be afraid to make money. I would imagine my future as a former CEO-turned-psychologist giving TED talks about how to trust your children and simply teach show them how to be with other people and the value of relationships.

I still think it’s possible, and that makes me happy.

That doesn’t change the fact that it’s 5:25am, and I’m still sleepless.

This book inspires me to stop everything and pursue a career in comedy writing. Mindy is so cool, and if she were real, I would make it my life’s purpose to become her best friend. But since she’s a celebrity, she can only ever be my best friend on tv (#bfotv).

And now, my favorite parts:

“One friend with whom you have a lot in common is better than three with whom you struggle to find things to talk about.”

“A note about me: I do not think stress is a legitimate topic of conversation, in public anyway. No one ever wants to hear how stressed out anyone else is, because most of the time everyone is stressed out. Going on and on in detail about how stressed out I am isn’t’ a conversation. It’ll never lead anywhere. No one is going to say, “Wow, Mindy, you really have it especially bad. I have heard some stories of stress, but this just takes the cake.””

“In my parents vivid imaginations, lack of at least one parent’s supervision was a gateway to drugs, kidnapping, or at the very minimum, too much television watching.”

“If I had to testify under oath, I would admit, no, I don’t believe Mac Teegarden is psychic. I’ve just been made too aware of people like Carl Sagan and basic science and stuff. I am certain, though, that Mac Teegarden provided an enormous amount of comfort to people who had unexpectedly lost loved ones. I don’t know if it was psychic, but it was cathartic, and therapeutic, and it helped people.”

“If I can give one bit of advice to any drama major, high school theater kid, or inmate who is reading this in a prison library with dreams of being cast in the prison play, it’s this: write your own part. It is the only way I’ve gotten anywhere. It is much harder work, but sometimes you have to take destiny into your own hands. It forces you to think about what your strengths really are, and once you find them, you can showcase them, and no one can stop you.”

The minute you step outside into the sweltering heat and the wind hits you so much like a summer breeze you begin to hum the song outloud shamelessly, you know it’s sweet summertime, and the months ahead will seem like a long leisurely vacation and that you will do the light things that life is meant for. It’s strange, but today was the first day I felt as though I was on holiday, and even though the weather is ahead of me, my mind is not. There is only the light I can see streaming in from the dark recesses of my mood, the one still left over from winter, and slowly but surely, my summer mood is about to emerge, even though it’s been beach season since March.

To help mosey things along, I put together a list of the things everyone should experience in the summertime, and it’s truly inspired me to make some of that happen for myself!

1. Take a road trip – which I’m actually doing this weekend! Me and two girlfriends are driving for four hours straight to Kardamili in the Peloponnese for the long weekend! I
2. Do yoga outside, or even on the beach – listening to the waves role as you take on the warrior pose brings images of Return to the Blue Lagoon into my mind (don’t ask me why). It’s that primitive connection with nature combined with the elegance of yoga, that makes this a mandatory summer activity.
3. On the flip side, if you’re feeling more active, get your skis on and slice the sea with your feet and feel the exhilerated air blowing against your face as you both smile and feel the burn!
4. Treat yourself to a deeply relaxing massage with natural scented oils like orange blossom, coconut, and jasmine
5. Live life slowly on a Greek island. Sarah Wilson spoke of her experience in Ikaria, but really, every Greek island is appreciative of a slower, richer way of life. I feel as though my week in Chios in August  (sarah Wilson)
6. Paint each toe  a different color– Whilst your at it, try a new color you’ve never worn before! I’ve always wanted to do this, but was so caught up in the appropriateness of going into work like this. Well, this year I’m more confident than ever, and have no shame in trying this out for the first time!
7. Create a summer cocktail*! Yum, this looks de-lish! And so easy!
8. Host a BBQ, oh my goodness, I hate hosting events, I really do. My guests well and truly need to fend for themselves whilst they are at my house. But I just got a new barbeque and it seems that guests are a prerequisite to using it, so I’m just going to soak it up, drink my cocktail*, and pray to god someone else takes the responsibility to ignite the darn thing.
9. Stay on the beach long after the sun sets
10. Lie in in the morning until you hear the crickets play sweet beautiful cantadas to each other
11. Dig into some juicy, gory thrillers – I love me some beach suspense! Last year I read The Hunger Games, the year before that Before I Close My Eyes, and the year before that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. This year, I’m going for Room and Gone Girl. Can’t wait to freak myself out whilst everyone around me whacks their rackets.
12. Lie in the grass and listen to live music – ooh, I already know there will be plenty of opportunities to do this this summer, and I can’t wait.
13. I don’t have sprinklers or a lawn, but if I did, I would most definitely dance in them! And do the slippy-slide! Wow haven’t done that in ages!
14. Dance all night at a wedding – some of the best couples I know are getting married this year, and I can’t wait to go celebrate with them in style.
15. Have a picnic – on the beach, on the mountain, in the grass, on your living room floor.  (inspired by gala)
16. Make strawberry ice cream cake (see recipe) – this is a MUST.
17. Go to the luna park. This would be an incredible way to squeal like a child and fill with glee
18. Use your camera! Either keep a travelogue, ad hoc fashion shoot on the beach, or simply hanging out with your friends being silly, take lots of photos so you can always have nice memories to look back on!
19. Eat a sweet nectarine after coming out of the salty sea. The combination of that sweet nectar with my salty lips makes me shudder with pleasure.
20. Wear something different and outside your comfort zone and go out into the world! Last year, I wore tons of flowers in my hair. This year,  I’m thinking red lipstick….
21. Make a new friend (though really, you should always find excuses to do this)
22. Flirt with someone of the same sex (because I’m feeling a bit naughty this year)
23. Renew your summer wardrobe with a hat, a new bikini, a new dress, and new sandals
24. Go skinny-dipping – last year I was able to sunbathe toplesss for 5 minutes, and (bonus) I took my top off in the sea for the first time! This year, I’m hoping to be able to walk straight in topless. Skinny dipping looks like it will be a reality next summer… but you never know!
25. Take a boat ride
26. Go to outdoor cinema
27. Walk along the beach during a full moon night
28. Go to New York
29. Start running
30. Kiss someone new
31. Write daily streams of consciousnessso that you never lose that sense of eternal summer
32. Have a big breakfast, preferably naked (see Hunter S Thompson quote)
33. Take a detox from technology
34. Dance until dawn
35. Buy an inflatable paddling pool, lie in it & take self-portraits
36. Go to a rooftop party
37. Get a bike, and use it to get to your local bar or pub! I’m desperate for this one…
38. Visit the tourist attractions in your own city
39. Do something that your parents or friends disapprove of
40. Declutter your space and remind yourself that summer is a time for warmth, light and air
41. Carry a tiny water-gun in your purse
42. Start to believe that you can truly have whatever you want http://galadarling.com/article/50-things-to-do-before-summer-ends
43. Reconnect with old friends http://galadarling.com/article/50-things-to-do-before-summer-ends
44. Go fishing – I have this endless daydream of going with the fisher men to sea early in the morning adn then returnign to the taverna to cook where all my friends will be waiting.
45. Walk barefoot everywhere
46. Drink water
47. Give your pets their shots – you don’t want to be running around  trying to find your vet whose on vacation when your dog has been stung by a rare African mosquito!
48. Swim! Obviously! Find your nearest pool, lake, or beach and just let the water do all the things that water is supposed to do.

And of course, have a fabulous time! You are alive and well and vibrant and full of creative energy and drive and love! Celebrate that feeling of complete and utter freedom, wehther it’s for two weeks or two minutes of yoru daily life.

What else will you be doing this summer?

It’s strange, ever since I was away and I spent one week offline, I’m finding it very hard to focus and I notice that my brain feels as though its short circuiting. It hurts to look at the screen for too long and I realize that user experience may not be for me simply because I want to look at a website for as little as possible. I’d rather look at clouds in the sky.

As I walk Victor, marigold colors fill me up and the summer air across the leaves warms my skin, and I think: this is life. Singing, walking, watching, talking, ingesting, inhaling. It is magnificent.

I wrote my friend a letter and it felt good to write. It felt good to send her the book. This is my favorite part:

“It all began six months ago, that time I was looking at my coffeepot and for the first time I really saw it. And you know how it is now, how I hear the birds sing, and I look at people and they’re really there as people, and best of all, I’m really there. And I’m not only there, but right now I’m here. The other day, I was standing in the art gallery looking at a picture, and a man came up and said, “Gauguin is very nice, isn’t her?” So I said: “I like you too.” So we went out and had a drink and he’s a very nice guy.”

No games. Will I be this brave in Italy?

Autumn is coming. I want to sing. I want to write. I want to run (or do I?). I want to feel my body. And I want to think and learn.

People and their thoughts charm me. I wish we wrote letters more. I wish we spoke more. About real things. And silly things. Maybe its just me that needs to speak more at this moment.

I want to define my life’s own meaning. I think I have. Let’s do this.