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Chicagoans have just a few months of warm weather each year to enjoy a flurry of summer activities, and often the season flies by in a blur of backyard barbecues and street festivals.
Loyola University Chicago emeritus professor of psychology Fred Bryant has some tips for enjoying the summer season to its fullest. Co-author of the 2017 book Savoring, he has studied the art and science of the practice since the 1980s, and his latest cross-cultural research studies how people worldwide approach savoring.
Practice abstinence before you treat yourself
Temporarily creating a stark contrast between pleasurable experiences heightens their savorability, Bryant’s work shows, whether it’s a piece of chocolate or a vacation.
“You work really hard before you go on vacation. You look forward to this during the hard work. Then you can see, ‘Oh man, this is nice.'”
On the other hand, a resort vacation will feel less pleasurable if you’ve been lounging around at the pool the week before.
“Lavishing yourself with abundance, it turns out, undermines enjoyment,” Bryant says.
Plan a variety of savoring moments
Bryant cautions against one big pleasure event for the summer for longest-term enjoyment.
“Most people take one big summer vacation, they put all their eggs in one basket. And that’s great and fine if you like intensity and a longer period of time with it,” Bryant says. “The research shows happiness has more to do with the frequency of good things than with the intensity of the good things.”
The research shows happiness has more to do with the frequency of good things than with the intensity of the good things.
— Fred Bryant, emeritus professor of psychology
He suggests listing simple, attainable things you want to enjoy this summer and tackling them weekly or daily throughout the summer—cheap thrills like setting up the hammock, counting fireflies, taking sandwiches to a favorite park, or going bananas with some sidewalk chalk. This will help you practice savoring impromptu joyful moments and bolster your strength in hard times.
Savoring is best done with company
Numerous references in research literature indicate that joy is a social emotion, Bryant says.
“Joy is to be shared and given away, and it’s magnified when it’s shared,” says Bryant. “That’s the beauty. It’s not diminished. It actually increases and magnifies when you share it.”
So bring a pal on one of your savoring journeys, or at least share the summer joy you’ve experienced. Make everyone try the perfectly sweet and not-mushy watermelon you brought home. Acknowledge the delicious breeze out loud. Spread the news if a jump in the lake positively changed your outlook on the entire day.
You can—and should—savor through challenges
Savoring does not mean ignoring the hard times. Bryant says it’s even more important to find things to savor in times of stress and adversity.
“The savoring recharges you and energizes you, buffers you, and protects you from the effects of stress and chronic illness,” he says.
Joy is to be shared and given away, and it's magnified when it's shared. That's the beauty. It's not diminished. It actually increases and magnifies when you share it.
— Fred Bryant, emeritus professor of psychology
And it’s even more important for people experiencing chronic illness to find pleasure now instead of waiting for recovery to seek joy. “We’ve got research data that showed that again and again.”
Accept that good things end, and that is what makes them good
The notion of perpetual happiness is unrealistic, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the end of a trip or magical summer. Bryant says that the skill of savoring means acknowledging that good times end. He says that a pessimist would note, “‘It could have lasted longer.'”
If you can accept that some pain or loss eventually is the “price of admission” to good times, you’ll get more pleasure out of the whole experience.
Zoom out for maximum effect
To make the most of Chicago’s warp-speed summer, take some time to bask in the glow of spending time with friends or a beautiful sunrise on the lake. Bryant talks about a moment at his daughter’s wedding reception when he stepped outside to view the crowd of happy people from a distance.
“It was something we had only imagined for so long, and here it was,” he says.
He knew the moment was fleeting. Stepping out, he says, was like walking out of a bakery for a while and reentering to have the scents wash over you anew.
“I would get freshness and the power of the positivity when I went back in,” Bryant says. “It enabled me to reboot and start the whole thing over again, whereas I might’ve missed some of those things had I remained immersed in the moment.”
