I have another suggestion for your summer: “Waste” some time appreciating something beautiful.

Go to an art museum, marvel at the paintings; attend the symphony, be taken up with the music; take a long hike, be absorbed by nature; sit on the beach, stare at the waves; seek out a flower garden and just smell a gardenia.

Don’t be content with merely noticing the beauty you happen upon while passing through on your way to the next, scheduled activity—slow down enough to pause, and to make appreciating something beautiful the very purpose of your minute, your hour, or even your whole day at some point this summer.  It might feel like you’re wasting time by not getting on to the next thing right away—but do it anyway.

Goethe said, “A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.”

So, go ahead: this summer, waste a little time on cultivating—rather than obliterating—the God-given sense of the beautiful implanted in your soul.

Have a wonderful day.