Summer is a complicated season made of sweetness and injunctions.
It is that of all promises. Normal, therefore, that it throws us some disappointments in the face. Or, at least, its share of pressure.
Terraces, parties in the park and festivals call for lightness. Drunkenness cries our name around every corner, but increasingly clear science teaches us that we must be wary of alcohol more than we thought. We should slow down, be aware, daze otherwise.
And we so need to be dazed, made here. To regain momentum, even if it means turning on ourselves…
At the dawn of the holidays – when we have the luxury of affording them – we run to finish everything, a question of arriving, perhaps, to eventually drop out. And we repeat it, huh: we-have-to-pick up. We only have two weeks to recharge the batteries, we shouldn’t miss it! Let us perform until our rest.
Luckily, relaxation is a little easier to find under the mild rays. We are delighted to be able to offer a bit of skin to the sun and to feel the breeze spinning along our legs. At the same time, many of us remember that his body is more commented on, far from his winter armor. Sometimes coveted, sometimes judged, in both cases objectified.
Without a coat to hide, we become a body in space again. Our private becomes public.
We don’t stop though. We rediscover the exhilarating feeling of freedom that our bike provides and we dream of movement. It’s just that at the same time, the city reminds us that it can close in on us in an instant. Not everyone is welcome on its streets.
Whatever. We take advantage of our summer as much as we can because we know that the next ones will be hotter, more dangerous.
We leave the air conditioner wondering where to draw the line between our comfort and our eco-anxiety.
We put on ice cream pretending we can digest it. (We are not able to digest them.)
We no longer really know on which foot to dance, between the delights of a few months that pass too quickly and their imperatives that remind us of our vulnerability.
Summer is the season of dichotomies that are not always easy to manage. It is the one that fully exposes us. She’s the friend who pisses us off a bit because she’s too frank.
So what do we do ? We escape a bit. We consult the charts of the “best beach readings” and we launch ourselves into playful, gloomy or romantic worlds. As long as they take us out.
And that’s good, every year, we are entitled to various lists that promise us that we will not break our heads if we dive into the books they offer. Because, let’s remember: we must not miss the chance of dropping out.
And if I adhere to the proposal to read to avoid looking at my person, my fellow citizens or our future in the eye, I still have a little discomfort when we rhyme “summer readings” and “lightness”…
It takes real talent to make people laugh or dream. There’s nothing lighthearted about the work of authors who manage to be good enough to allow us to forget about our worries (or just get away from our phones for five minutes).
I also believe that several titles that are not listed as “beach readings” nevertheless have something to help us reconcile with our summer paradoxes.
There are books that are perfect for the summer, but perhaps too frontally rigorous to be sold as such.
Moreover, since this is my last column before the holidays, I take the liberty of recommending three attempts to make (a little) peace with yourselves.
Summer confronts you about your body? Do you wonder about her beauty, her strength, her place in the world? So read the essay Formatting (August Horse), by Mikella Nicol. The author brilliantly dissects the promises of the fitness industry and the disappointments that spring from it. A lucid, personal and touching story. Ideas that brew.
Does summer and its calls for rest put your nose to your own fatigue? It is on the side of philosophy professor Véronique Grenier that you should turn. His essay À boutte: an exploration of our ordinary fatigue (Workshop 10) offers a rich reflection on the causes of our exhaustion and the twisted relationship we have with it. It’s brilliant and rather guilt-free.
Does summer exacerbate your eco-anxiety? Find some semblance of control through How to Prepare for Climate Change: A Practical Guide to Surviving the Chaos (Simon & Schuster, 2021). The essay by American journalist David Pogue has not yet been translated into French, but I allow myself to name it since it is filled with tools to maintain relative comfort, despite the intense transitions that await us. A theme discussed elsewhere and in several languages, you will tell me. Yes, but in a particularly practical way, here.
There are also several books about the microbiome, if you want to learn more about your complex relationship with ice cream…
It was nothing.
With that, I’m going to read, rather than write. I will be back around in a few weeks. Until then, don’t forget to pick up!
Formatting
august horse
176 pages
On the edge
Workshop 10
78 pages
How to Prepare for Climate Change: A Practical Guide to Surviving the Chaos
Simon & Schuster
624 pages