Summer Blues, Anyone?
If you’re feeling off, uninspired, or disconnected, it might not be what you’re doing. It might be what you’re absorbing.
A Subtle Shift
This summer has felt different.
Normally, this time of year feels energizing. Expansive.
A season to reset and reconnect with myself, with ideas, with possibility.
But lately, I’ve felt off. Not surprisingly, I suppose, with how heavy things have felt in the U.S., especially in Los Angeles.
This is my (probably unpopular) take, but Summer just isn’t her breezy self.
I hadn’t realized how much it had been affecting me until my daughter repeated a comment I’d made in passing weeks ago, on the way to drop her off at school.
She remembered it verbatim: tone, phrasing, context.
Something I barely registered, she had fully absorbed.
This happens regularly, but this time it hit me differently.
There’s that old saying that children are like sponges, soaking up everything around them. And they are.
But here’s the part we often forget or assume we’ve outgrown:
So are we.
And that’s when I realized: Yes, I’d been in a rut. And ruts? I know how to get out of them. But her comment made me understand why. And what to do about it.
What You’re Absorbing Is Shaping You
As adults, we don’t lose that sponge-like nature. Sure, we become more resilient. More immune. And over time, we build filters that (hopefully) protect us from what doesn’t serve us.
But we’d be fooling ourselves to think that those filters are impenetrable.
To believe we aren’t still malleable.
That we don’t also need to be handled with care.
The truth is, what you consume shapes you.
Quietly. Slowly. Consistently.And it’s not just the news.
It’s the conversations you engage in, the content you scroll, the food you eat, the energy you tolerate, the people you surround yourself with.
It all gets in.
Unless we’re actively and regularly filtering, clearing, or better yet, questioning(!), these inputs can begin to affect us. Influence us. Sometimes even harm us.
Children absorb indiscriminately because they haven’t built filters yet.
Adults absorb indiscriminately because we forget we still need them.
Or maybe we assume they’re functioning better than they are.
And over time, it adds up.
The low-grade fog you can’t shake.
The anxious scroll you can’t stop.
The internal static that crowds out clarity.
This is your reminder that it might not be burnout or misalignment.
It might actually be absorption.
Inputs Build Identity
This idea is one I return to often, especially when I feel disconnected or uninspired. It’s also a cornerstone of how I think about alignment.
If you’re not intentional about your inputs, they will start to define your worldview. They’ll influence your energy, your outlook, even your sense of what’s possible.
Most of us are overconsuming by default. Not just food or content, but urgency, opinion, energy. That’s not ours.
When I feel myself slipping into this mode. Dull, distracted, disconnected. I go back to my toolbox. The habits. The stack of things I’ve built over time that recalibrate me.
And I don’t just sprinkle them in. I flood myself with them. All of them.
My Personal Reset: The “Full Arsenal” Approach
When I hit this kind of low-level fog that I can’t shake, I reach for what I call my full arsenal. It’s not subtle. It’s not casual. It’s an all-hands-on-deck reset.
I don’t try to solve it intellectually. I don’t create more to-do’s. I go physical. I go sensory. I go soulful. Or as the internet says, “I do all the (my) things.”
Here’s what that looks like for me in case any of you are also experiencing a ‘summer rut’:
Deep sleep
Clean, nourishing food
Morning journaling
Fresh juices
Movement
A good (infrared) sweat
Red light therapy
Prayer or meditation (both if I can)
Grounding in nature
Thoughtful inputs: books, conversations, fresh flowers, music that uplifts
And just as important:
I remove what or who doesn’t serve me. Even temporarily.
This is my tried and trued personal alignment arsenal. It’s not always convenient. But it works. And then I rinse and repeat. Because repetition is rescue.
When your system is overloaded, it takes deliberate, consistent action to clear space again.
One Thing I’ve (Re)Learned
If you don’t get intentional about your inputs, they’ll shape your energy for you.
And most of what’s “out there” isn’t neutral. It has an agenda. A mood. A tone. A velocity.
If you’re not consciously choosing what comes in, you’re unconsciously absorbing it.
Which is why I believe this work has to be extreme sometimes.
Your 963 Prompt
Here’s the thing. For this to work, it has to be your arsenal. Not borrowed, not aspirational, but personal and resourced.
Don’t have one yet? Let’s build it.
Make a list of 5–10 practices, rituals, or inputs that genuinely refuel you.
These aren’t random wellness trends. Or what works for someone you follow on Tik Tok. They’re the tools that bring YOU back to yourself.
Keep your list somewhere visible and accessible.
Commit to one each day this week.
If it starts to feel good, layer in more.
If that feels like enough, honor that too.
This isn’t about proving anything. It’s about remembering what helps. And not just cutting the noise but consciously choosing what comes in next.
Tools & Resources This Month
Book: The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt – A powerful, research-driven look at how digital environments affect our nervous systems, especially for younger generations. A must-read if you’ve felt the fog but couldn’t name its source.
Podcast: We Can Do Hard Things with Nedra Glover Tawwab – A grounded, accessible conversation on protecting your energy through boundaries. Nedra explains how saying no is a form of emotional hygiene and why it matters when everything feels like too much.
Practice: Create a “Clean Inputs” List – A list of content, practices, and people that actually refuel you. Keep it handy. When you feel off, go straight to this list before trying to power through.
Mindset Shift: You’re still a sponge. That means being actively discerning about what shapes you isn’t optional, it’s a necessity for self-preservation.
Looking Ahead
Next month, I’ll share how I’ve been rethinking structure as a way to protect alignment. Not in a rigid, over-optimized way, but in a quiet, powerful one.
Until then, just remember:
You’re still a sponge.
And the more you choose what you absorb,
the more you remember who you are.
More soon,
Jamie