The Monthly Crunch

August 2026 Issue

Happy August! It's my birthday month and I'm taking it "off." I don't know what that means, or anyway it doesn't mean anything specific.

I am being a little intentionally lazy about keeping up with monthly habits, for example. Sometimes it's nice to give yourself a break, rest your brain even from the self-imposed creative flows.

Some of the energy that may have gone into social things in August often go into home cleaning and decluttering. Usually this time of year I'm doing a top-to-bottom house clean as a way to rest for "my next year" - not the calendar new year but my next year of life. Also, I travel for birthdays so it's nice to come home to a clean place.

Since I'm single, childfree, and live alone, most of my life is a "do-what-you-want" moment and I don't really need to have special time for doing whatever the fuck I want, but I think I lean more into that energy in August and let myself make more mistakes freely. Taking off from cognitive load by simply allowing myself to not think of everything before acting (within reason).

For me, your birthday month is an essential time for reflection, letting go, moving on, getting loose, and finding new ways to thrive. It's an opportunity for a slight energy shift, thinking back on past birthdays and how you felt during those times. How you've improved (or not) since then. Thinking about all the stuff you've created in the last several years or sooner. Praising yourself for taking risks or being smartly cautious.

Every year I take a picture of the sky on my birthday. It's not always beautiful but I'm always in a place I've never been. Even if I do nothing else, I at least do that. On years I couldn't afford to travel, I took day trips to spend the majority of my birthday somewhere else. To me, my day of birth is more significant than any other "starting point" defined throughout the year because it is the true marker of another year of my life.

Last year in August I didn't have air conditioning so this year is already so much better.

Hope you are staying safe out there and finding ways to keep in touch with people, even if they're less social than usual. Remember, sometimes people don't have the capacity to chat, but they still always like a nice check-in. And if you're feeling that way but no one's checking in, check in with them for a second instead. A small hello can go such a long way for someone who needs it.