Writer’s Notes,
13/07/26
“Some of your favourite days haven’t even happened yet
and that’s the magic of being alive.”
I came across this quote just the other week and I had to share it. Isn’t it a lovely thought? We are half way through summer and this year I find myself holding it differently.
The weather in southern Greece has been idyllic. Usually by mid-July we’re deep in 40-degree heat. Not this year. Warm, beautiful sunny days, the hum of cicadas by mid-afternoon, a good breeze in the evening to cool things down. First time in a long while I’m actually savouring it, instead of hiding from it.
As of late
London was a fantastic trip. My first time there, actually. I wasn’t prepared for how it would feel—the size of the buildings, the history in every street, the maple trees lining them. Our guide walked us through it all and I kept thinking about the people who built it, piece by piece.
I noticed something there, too. Walking its streets, I reached for my phone less. I was just in it—noticing how I felt, what I loved, making mental notes instead of photo albums. Less capturing, more living in it first.
We did a guided tour, also a first for me. Recommend and don’t recommend, both at once. Recommend—someone who actually knows the city takes you straight to the good stuff. Don’t recommend—I wanted more time to linger. It was a packed schedule and a proper London post is coming soon.
Back in Greece, I needed a few days to recover from the red-eye. Then my sister and her family arrived from Canada which made the first weeks of July full in the best way!
This week, we’re off to Naxos and Paros—celebrating twenty years of marriage. Our second time in Naxos and I’m sure we’ll love it just as much as the first. It feels like Greece with its quaint streets, beautiful beaches, food and lovely villages— an all around fantastic atmosphere. Mostly, I’m looking forward to just us. First time in a long while it’ll be only the two of us and we picked Naxos again partly because the island celebrates Agios Nikodimos, which is just the day before our wedding anniversary and we figured what a sweet coincidence to be there as the whole island turns festive for it.
On my mind
I keep returning to this idea that presence isn’t a personality, it’s a practice. I used to believe some people were simply built for the moment and some weren’t—that it was luck or temperament, something you either had of didn’t. Now I think it’s smaller than that and harder too. It’s a choice made again and again—the phone left face-down, the extra ten minutes at the table, letting a good afternoon be whole on its own, without needing proof it happened. Maybe that’s the lesson this season keeps offering me. Less capturing. More living. And a trust that whatever is coming will be worth however long it takes to arrive.
Some of the best days are still ahead. Savour what’s in front of you.
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