Summer Boredom

Bonjour Tristesse, Black Swans, and Boring Girl Summer

Summer has been my least favorite season for a long time, largely due to the fact that I’ve always been so easily bored in the summer. There is too much time to fill, too many hours in the day, and the endless options for “having fun” leaves me with so much indecision that I end up doing nothing, resulting in guilt over the fact that I’m not outside capitalizing on the sunshine.

However, I’ve recently felt a shift of perspective on restless and bored summers.

I read Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan over a year ago which led me to see the beauty of a restless summer for the first time. Sagan’s protagonist, Cécile, entertains herself during a hot summer in the French Riviera by manipulating and scheming against others. Cécile is a flawed young woman but the restless summer season gives her the time to think, grow, and change. Ultimately it’s an extremely sorrowful and tragic book but the beauty of summer shines through at least in my eyes.

“I lay full length on the sand, took up a handful and let it run through my fingers in soft yellow streams. I told myself that it ran out like time. It was an idle thought, and it was pleasant to have idle thoughts, for it was summer.” - Françoise Sagan, Bonjour Tristesse

I am currently reading Black Swans by Eve Babitz, another perfect summer book because of Babitz’ nature and connection to California. In perfect harmony with my recent summer musings, Babitz mentions Françoise Sagan and the art arising from boredom in the story “Self-Enchanted City” (god don’t you love intertextuality!)

“I couldn’t act and wanted to be an artist or a writer like Françoise Sagan. And it seemed to me that all anyone had to do to become Françoise Sagan was to have a miserable love life and be kicked around and bored all the time.” - Eve Babitz, Black Swans

Maybe summer doesn’t have to be so dreadful for me, there are fruits to be born out of all this time with no plans to fill it. I came across this wonderful piece, “Boring Girl Summer” by You’ve Got Lauren that started the end of my lifelong summer hatred. It reminded me of all the little beautiful things to do in the summer that seem minuscule in the vast calendar of a week with no big plans, but are actually so fulfilling. Like reading outside with an iced coffee, picking wildflowers while on a walk, and sporting a bikini all day. I think I like summer now and l’m learning to not be so afraid of boredom, because it is really a luxury and privilege to experience it.