Celebrate the delicious flavors of summer with this festive Vegan Fruit Pizza with Graham Cracker Crust.

HOLY CRAP IT’S JULY. Ok, sorry about that. That was a very extreme reaction to the fact that it’s July 1st – but also, holy crap it’s July! I feel like such a broken record because I do the same thing every month (you know, act surprised that it’s a new month). Somehow, I’m utterly shocked that time has passed, even though time has been doing it’s damn thang since, well, the beginning of time.

Especially on Nantucket, where the change of seasons is so dramatic, (aka the population increases 6x) summer feels dramatically different and so special and fleeting. I already know that if I don’t make some sort of concerted effort to slow down, then I’ll be chillin’ in October, dazed and confused about what just happened. Even though, let’s be real, that might happen anyway.

Ok, so we can’t literally change the speed of time. I think anyone who watched Nickelodeon’s cinematic classic, Clockstoppers, knows how that goes down. So how the heck does one “slow down.”

Say Yes to Different

Yuh gurl is mad guilty of getting sucked into routines, which, although very efficient, are also total time warps. Before you know it, a month has passed, yet you’re not really sure what you did. Routines certainly aren’t all bad. They can help minimize energy taxing daily decision making. However, it’s super important if we want to slow down, to remember that routines should be a guide, written in pencil, not stone.

This year, especially as the weather turns nicer and more invitations to new experiences come my way, I’ve been trying to say “yes” to things that aren’t in my routine. Going to the brewery at 4pm when I had planned on banging out some emails and getting in a workout isn’t the “responsible” thing to do. But I sure will remember spending sunny afternoons with my best friends longer than I’ll be patting my back for an hour of productivity. Now, you can’t say yes to every invitation, especially when you’ve got sh*t to do and goals to reach. But a break in scenery and more social interaction (especially as a introverted blogger) has a way of breaking up the weeks in a good way.

Say No to “Good”

Ok, so this might sound contradictory to my “say yes” advice, but hear me out. This is saying no to a different kind of invitation, it’s saying no to opportunities that are just good and not great. This kind of saying no is more in the work realm than the social invitations. These are the opportunities that you know you could do and maybe even “should do” on paper, but they don’t light you up. These are the activities that eat away at the margin of creativity, of fun, of self care of the time that you need for taking what you’ve already got to the next level.

90% of the reason I write this is because I still desperately need to practice this rule. I’ve learned over the years that I love the margin in my day. I love having space to think, strategize, and maximize what I’m already doing as well as take time to myself. As soon as the margin gets taken away, I get anxious and the things I love start to feel like chores. No. Beueno. This is a recipe for time warp where you wake up and 3 months have gone by without being able to focus on the things you wanted to.

So yeah, no is the new black.

[Tweet “Saying “no” is the new black”]

Live Right Now, Right Now

This is another one I struggle with (so really this blog post should be titled “Dear Georgie, get your life together”) but writing and talking about it does help. Living right now, in the moment instead of thinking about what’s going to happen in an hour or tomorrow or next week certainly allows the perception of time to slow down. When you tune into the person next to you instead of the next photo on Instagram you can be fully engaged in what’s going on. Not to mention you make stronger memories when you are all there.

I heard this advice on the Happier Podcast with Gretchen Rubin, they said if you tend to get stuck thinking or worrying about the future, give yourself scheduled time to worry. In my case, I try to let myself future think for about an hour while I’m doing mindless actives like driving and chores. That way I can more easily practice ‘turning it off’ as soon as I am in the presence of other people I want to be engaged with.

Hopefully if I practice what I’m preaching the summer of 2016 will be filled with memories not more “Holy crap it’s October” moments. Even though, I flipping love October (but that’s a post for another day.)

Hopefully you can take this holiday weekend to be fully present, to get out of your routine and put down the phone and the never ending to do list. Oh and make this dope fruit pizza because it’s insanely delish AND totally vegan.

I’m so excited to finally share this recipe because I’ve literally had to make it 3 different times before I was able to get the images for this post. Mind you, I’m not mad one little bit because that means I’ve been thoroughly enjoying fruit pizza for the last couple weeks on repeat. Yeah, not mad.

Your Turn:

Do you have strategies to “slow down” time?

What’s something you’re looking forward to in July?