Summer has a magical way of expanding our perception of time, stretching the days like taffy, sweet and slow and far longer than we expect.
Rarely in a dreadful, “Ugh, where did the day go?” way, but rather in the “I can’t believe three hours have already passed now that I’m checking the clock for the first time” kind of way.
I’ve lost track of time on several occasions recently. I spent nearly two hours deep in conversations at book club, nearly four hours eating dinner and fully immersed in watching a movie with a friend, and several hours on a sunny day paddleboarding with loved ones, only to return home after the sun had set. Several instances where neither urgency nor clocks existed.
There’s a name for what happens in moments like these: psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi called it flow in his book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience: “the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, p.4).
Flow is what happens when you're so fully present that there's no room left for anything else. It doesn't just happen to you; it’s where you find joy and fulfillment through activities that match your skills, often leading to growth. It requires the right conditions: the right people, a level of engagement, and enough space to be present in the moment.
Summers often create more opportunities for these conditions to present themselves naturally. But the conditions aren't seasonal. They're replicable. They're a choice.
I keep asking myself: What would it look like to carry a little of this into other seasons? Into October? Into January? Not the weather (wouldn’t that be nice?), but the willingness to linger and choose the people and the activities worth losing track of time for, and then actually let myself get lost.
Maybe you can prioritize these moments more, too.
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Free PDF)
nostalgic things to do this summer on milk and cookies by Ayushi Thakkar
The BIG Summer Reading Guide! on In Joy with Brittany Viklund
Your Happiness Calendar for July 2026 from Greater Good
you weren’t meant to live life on repeat (YouTube video) by Ottilie
A virtual fireworks show I created just for you
She shrugs. ‘It could still happen. Life’s long.’ That makes me snort with laughter. ‘I don’t think anyone says that.’ ‘Maybe not,’ she says, ‘but if they were truly present, maybe they would.’
I’m Alyssa Towns, and this is TIME INTENTIONAL, a newsletter exploring what it means to spend our limited (and precious) time intentionally in honor of Janet, Dale, and John.
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