I’ve been doing more microblogging on Instagram. This week I wrote about how I feel like I’m pored in a cocktail shaker and shaken vigorously. I’m not sure what will come out, but from experience, I know that it will be something delicious. I also spoke about upcycling as a way of living, something that from time to time needs to apply to values and aspects of the self in addition to things. I feel that this time has led me to look at the values I have and see how they need to be updated so they reflect all the lessons I have learned during the past several months.
One ingredient that I know for sure will be in the cocktail coming out of my shaker is living slow. I’ve developed the habit of taking my time to do just about everything. As the city and digital work emerge like a sleepy giant, I’m not finding myself thrilled to run out and meet it. Except for not being able to physically see my mother, I love a lot of the way I’ve been living. As I wrote about in another post, taking my time has now had enough practice to become a habit. This is one habit I really don’t want to break.
Given my love of research and reading, I’ve gone down the rabbit hole of the slow living movement. When I’m first interested in something, I consume everything I can find out about it. There are tributary movements like slow food, slow homes, slow parenting, slow fashion, slow travel, and one that caught my attention; slow media. Slow Media is a movement focusing on the pace of media production and consumption in the digital age. It advocates for alternative ways of making and using media that are more intentional, more enjoyable, longer-lasting, better researched/written/designed, more ethical, and of higher quality overall. Thank you, Wikipedia. A splendid example is a slow journalism magazine called Delayed Gratification. The premise is that our news has become a series of sound bites that leave our consciousness in minutes as the next story follows quickly on its heels. In their view, this is both shoddy journalism and gives superficial treatments of what are arguably important stories and issues. So this magazine, published quarterly, reports on news events that occurred during the prior three months of publication. Journalists follow and report on the stories with the benefit of what used to signify good journalism; time-consuming in-depth interviews, research, and on the ground reporting. Aren’t we curious about what ended up happening? This cultural memory problem is probably a big contributor to why there is no outrage and shock at repeated lies and criminal behavior in those who hold the highest positions in society.
In some ways, I feel this is what I’ve been doing with my regular blogging and Instagram microblogging. I am not pushing myself to produce more, though I frequently have this sense of urgency that I should. It’s fraught with anxiety and it feels good to recognize it and say I’ll pass. I’ve been thinking and reading more about what I’m posting. What I like about the slow media movement is that it is not anti-technology (only in that you recognize all the toxic impact of how your devices are made and designed for obsolescence) but that your digital consumption and production becomes more thoughtful, keeps ethical issues at the forefront and gets consumed more in the manner of a slow series of gourmet courses at a farm to table restaurant than fast, not healthy food at your local McDonalds.
The Slow Living Movement is much like intersectional environmentalism where people and planet are the priority and local and community are the values and the vision for the establishment of new economies. This is part of our motivation to move upstate and out of the city. We want to grow our own vegetables and herbs. I want to have an enormous flower garden so I can have fresh flowers all over my house. I want to know my neighbors and support local businesses. I want to be thoughtful and ethical. To fill my house with recycled furniture, have a sewing machine, and upcycle the clothes already hanging in my closet. To write more and make more things with my hands.
Although I really need a manicure right now as I look down at my hands they still look strong and like they have a lot more to do, Because of no manicure my nails are healthier and stronger, because of frequent hand washing I’ve been using moisturizer on my hands (something I never used to have time for) so the skin is supple. As my fingers are running over this keyboard, they are telling me they want to dance with a needle, do some sewing and maybe even learn how to weave. I give them a nod but also let them know all in good time. At this moment we are writing a post. That is more than enough for right now.
What kinds of “slow” are you doing?
As always Lynn , you hit the nail on the head . It’s like you are in my head and have the ability to express so perfectly exactly my thoughts. I’m working diligently On slowing down… taking time in the middle of the day to read… letting things on my desk ride where as in in the past I would have had to get them done so I could check them off my list… I’m working towards letting all those mundane things go until I’m ready to do them. I’ve been so task oriented in the past that it’s not easy…. but I’m aware of my need to tick the boxes and am trying to get them ticked at a less fervent pace! Thanks again for your eloquence!
Wise words…and just what I needed. Right now!
Thank you so much.
Wow, my mother has been gone for a few years and she passed at 86. Yours seems to have slowed the final stage. Lots of things are slowed for me. My knees Thursday told me that they were slowing me for awhile. COVID-19 slows my seeing my girlfriend in Tijuana, performing as a piper, and practicing law. Being happy and making it work are grand.
beautiful
I’m hand-stitching a pair of overalls that help me finish my house when I refinanced after a divorce. There were holes to repair and paint splashed areas but I could not bear to part with them. I’m enjoying my peaceful home now and remembering all the hard work that it took to keep it. I wore these overalls everyday on the weekends and after work. I’m making them my canvas of all things worthwhile. This is my slow fashion.
I also teach costume design and create collections based on culture and history. My website has past shows and designs. Even now when things have slowed down I love my life. I am blessed. Currently working on a new collection: a 1950s and 1960s retrospect, a tribute to my mother and grandmother who entered the workforce when many women were working from home.
I’m learning to meditate, sleep through the night, and take as much time in the morning as I want to stretch! I’m also taking my time to cook and earn new recipes; I used to enjoy cooking more and let it become a chore due to my busy life; I’m still working and busy, but find by sleeping, resting, and meditating, I’m more effective and can still get required work done, while enjoying a slower day!
So relaxing reading this. Thank you!
Seriously beautiful. Her hair looks like a goddess. BTW, Awesome blog?
Poured
Whew – thank you. Some of us don’t mind, some do.
Thank you
Working on an Alabama Chanin swing skirt kit. Close to 16,000 stiches when all said and done. Slow but steady.
❤❤❤
I have made a large vegetable garden, got myself some chickens and stop to think of a different solution before buying something new. My state of happiness has increased greatly as has my state of health both physical and mental.
I feel as though the world is already trying to suck me back into a speedier way and really that ‘normal’ never felt right. I have spent slow time sitting alone on my back step with a good coffee at eye level with a wondrous Lavender plant and Red Button grass. Writing letters by hand, pegging out washing very early in the morning and pacing my day to a different rhythm. It’s been awesome and I intend to hang on to it. Xx
This article comes along at a time when I am trying to reckon with my compulsion to be busy. Why can’t I think about brushing my teeth when that’s what I’m doing. I don’t need to save time by planning my next move. I’m 70, retired for 10 years, and I still struggle with guilt if I am too idle. At first, I thought the virus would be my excuse to slack off, and it seemed to be working, but constant reminders are now the order of the day. Why is it so hard to be present in the moment and to give myself permission read a great book in the middle of the day? It’s a work in progress. I hope you get your rural home with flowers and vegetables. I have much of this, but somewhere along the way, forgot to smell those flowers.
I agree with you, at 71, and retired 19 years! I still feel guilty if I work at my art before the house is straightened. Baby steps, baby steps.
Drawing more! Luxuriating in my art! I’m an artist and my life long career and love of the visual arts has continued to serve me well. We should use our gifts while we can! My hands are getting stiff and painful and sewing is now too difficult. Indulging in online art classes and participation with art groups online is a delight. Slowing down to spend more time watching the birds in my gardens is another love. We added more feeders to see them from the windows. Slow saunter with sweet dog in mornings, and waving at neighbors I never saw before now. Thank you for your inspiring words and wisdom
I slowly try to master the art of accepting my 70ish, telling myself how good was and still is my life now. Accepting to have a body that is no more perfect, the flaws coming with age. Taking life one day at a time and thanking for what I have – and mostly – for what I don’t have… like sickness, money problems, heartaches or so… That’s my slow these days…
First, I am 77. Eating most meals at the table with my daughter who lives with me. She is 57 and has multiple medical issues. So in March we went into self-quarantine to avoid as many Covid-19 risks as possible.
We usually ate separately in from of the TV. But somehow gravitated to the table together where we eat while we look out the window at suburban neighbors walking their dogs,wearing masks if with other people, and since our community is for 55+ some are using walkers or canes or walking poles, but they are doing what they can to enjoy everyday they are healthy enough to put one foot in front of the other. And they do it every day.
We also have taken all the time we want with are meals so we can enjoy the Neighborhood wildlife that includes rabbits Running around and actually hopping over each other, California quail families with the male and female and four or five baby quails running around together with the rabbits chasing them in circles, we’ve even had a mother turkey and four baby turkeys walk down the middle of our street, and a friendly neighborhood cat came and sat on our window cell and watch us eat our meal.
We also play scrabble with or after oh meal and that’s because it’s my daughters favorite game. So after a few months of getting back into the swing of it I am really enjoying just playing scrabble. Are used to love to do that but things got in the way. Now I’m spending a lot more quality time as we say with my daughter and it feels good. I only wish the rest of my six children and seven grandchildren and one great granddaughter could join us. Not being able to touch them and hug them and kiss them is painful. But as long as they are safe and healthy And doing everything they can to Keep healthy and safe that’s all I could ask but I know they were doing that. The ones that are able to come over to visit but they remain outside and we remain inside and talk through the window screens and keep 6+ feet distance.
I agree that slowing down is actually Very beneficial.
I think that is because we forgot how much we have jam packed into a day to be productive, to further our careers, to do all that we need to do to try to raise the family perfectly etc. etc. etc.
And in that process I don’t think we really enjoyed life as my parents did with us (my sisters and my brother)And our friends and neighbors. And it wasn’t planned activities in the sense that it was a little league, and dancing school etc. etc. Was none of those things it was the family going on picnics, it was taking Sunday rides for ice cream, it was visiting friends on their porches, and people coming over to just drop by and say hello. Times changed but I don’t think it was for the better. Maybe that’s because I am as I said 77 years old and feeling nostalgic for the old days. But I also think that everybody is so busy doing so many things I don’t have time to live. At least that’s my story. That’s what happened to me
First, I am 77. Eating most meals at the table with my daughter who lives with me. She is 57 and has multiple medical issues. So in March we went into self-quarantine to avoid as many Covid-19 risks as possible.
We usually ate separately in from of the TV. But somehow gravitated to the table together where we eat while we look out the window at suburban neighbors walking their dogs,wearing masks if with other people, and since our community is for 55+ some are using walkers or canes or walking poles, but they are doing what they can to enjoy everyday they are healthy enough to put one foot in front of the other. And they do it every day.
We also have taken all the time we want with are meals so we can enjoy the Neighborhood wildlife that includes rabbits Running around and actually hopping over each other, California quail families with the male and female and four or five baby quails running around together with the rabbits chasing them in circles, we’ve even had a mother turkey and four baby turkeys walk down the middle of our street, and a friendly neighborhood cat came and sat on our window cell and watch us eat our meal.
We also play scrabble with or after oh meal and that’s because it’s my daughters favorite game. So after a few months of getting back into the swing of it I am really enjoying just playing scrabble. Are used to love to do that but things got in the way. Now I’m spending a lot more quality time as we say with my daughter and it feels good. I only wish the rest of my six children and seven grandchildren and one great granddaughter could join us. Not being able to touch them and hug them and kiss them is painful. But as long as they are safe and healthy And doing everything they can to Keep healthy and safe that’s all I could ask but I know they were doing that. The ones that are able to come over to visit but they remain outside and we remain inside and talk through the window screens and keep 6+ feet distance.
I agree that slowing down is actually Very beneficial.
I think that is because we forgot how much we have jam packed into a day to be productive….
I’m flower farm slow. Our lavender harvest is being accomplished by a group of mostly young women volunteers who spend part of their day swimming, hiking, chatting, laughing and dancing in the pretty purple field. Rather than pushing to get it done, as it’s usually a good part of our farm livelihood, this year we’re doing it for love–I’m all in for that.
I enjoyed your post very much..reading your words of what you want to do I noticed something..I was raised in those awesome “peace, love, happiness” good ole’ hippie days–still enjoy the life..I am a young 68 years of age..most of the things you mentioned brought back life long memories of similar things I made..or fixed..created.. (always been a crafter..Mom and Grandma were Appalachian quilters)..I am so fortunate to have grown up then!..just reminiscing..
Thanks for the interesting reads..
Brenda
For most of my life, my spirit animal was a wolf; it gave me a sense of security.
I have finally grown into my life as it is. My new spirit animal is the snail and I
wear this symbol emblazoned on tee shirts and in my psyche. It took a while to grow into a happy
snail and deal with the “should” voices that urged me to do more. When they pop
up from time-to-time, I banish them immediately to the nether reaches of my mind.
My favorite way of life is now”puttering”. Actually, I always loved to putter but I have
now given it full reign. I’m so content. No need for the approval of others and external
validation. I truly have become my own good mother.
Thank you so much for sharing your journey and changes with us.
You might like to check this magazine out as well. It’s a beautiful Australian magazine that also adheres to the slow movement.
https://peppermintmag.com/
My mind has been moving along those same trends. My posts I share with my FB friends are longer than everyone else’s. Sometimes I feel that, for others, reading them just takes up too much time. They’re used to the news bits that are as you explained above.
When it comes to those criminals in higher places I do research before posting my thoughts. Assuming does nothing to help the masses understand what’s going on or has gone on.
But now I long to get away from FB and do some real writing. I do have some tales to tell, taking them from my 74 years of living on this beautiful planet. Like you, to me there is nothing more important than protecting this place that gave such a massive variety of living things; and hoping the people who are not in higher places will wake up and go to war protecting our planet. I used to love going to my uncle’s farm near Vassar, Michigan when I was a child. I love planting and caring for the things I plant until time to reap or replace if it’s inedible plants.
Talking politics and religion with family, friends, and strangers has become something I’ve realized is at the base of our divisiveness all over the world. Politicians and religious folk want to own us and I refuse to be owned. When I toured the country from West Coast to East and back last year I found the people to be as wonderful and friendly as they were when I was young. Those greedy ones want us to believe otherwise.
And I, too, want to get away from city life. I want to be where I can go into the forest for an entire day like I did as a child. Just watching everything and loving it all kept me away from the meaner children in the neighborhood. There’s nothing more wonderful than the feeling raw nature can give. We must protect it and save the children who are coming up behind us.
Thanks for giving this opportunity to speak my mind. You’re a wonderful human being.
I want to learn to weave too. ?
Couldn’t agree more! There’s an old adage that says, “how did I manage before I retired?”, now I ask myself “what did I do before lock-down?“. I’ve often found myself still in track pants at 3.30 in the afternoon. But I’ve never been more calm and happy, and I take great joy in simple things. I don’t miss overseas travel, although I do miss friends and family, but thanks to FaceTime, we keep in touch.
Hi From Christchurch in New Zealand,,We voted in a Prime Minister who cares about all her citizens,We locked down pretty quickly and have NO Covid on our street’s only cases of people flying back home bringing the odd covid with them. They are taken care of in Isloation at the border that is 14 day’s or longer 28 days if they will not take the covid test.This has been extremely frightening watching those selfish humans amongst us who don’t care if they catch it and pass it onto others,, mater’s not which part of the world you live,,we’ve had people cut through fences at isloation because they would like to purchase themselves a bottle of something alcoholic from the local supermarket,,Latest young Male had tested positive for Covid and now is spending his isolation time in Prison. We’re free to do what we like everyday and wish the Rest of the World would Lockdown and get the World free of Covid,,not keep killing off it’s citizens or make them Very Sick…We too are growing all of our food and I also make Sourdough Bread,,Nothing with Preservatives is good for the Human body let alone the enormous amount’s of Sugar Manufacturer’s add to everything,,CANCER Loves SUGAR,,I have a tailoring background ,I also trained as an embroidery machinist,,screenprinting too,my machines sit idol other than what i make for myself and family and friends because China has invaded us worse than any war could do,,although now NZ people have finally decided to support each other’s job’s First and anything cheap not,,so who know’s here in NZ we used to make everything ourselves,,from carpet on the floors to materials for clothes,,perhaps we may now beat the made in china tag’s/ hope so,,i have no problem’s with other country’s goods,,I have a problem when every label on everthing you purchase say’s the same thing,,Made in China,,I would like different country’s label’s on everything,,can’t even find any Made in USA either…All the best on your new future,,you’ll thrive and i don’t know about the weaving it takes forever to make anything,,I’d focus on what you can make within a week,,get yourself a knitting machine,,i have six :0) just in case I need some spare part’s you can easily make a garment in a day,,let alone blanket’s,,hat’s (circular Knitting Machine) I LOVE my Happy Embroidery Machine,,it’s s single head fifteen needle commercial,,but if you know how to sew it’s just a bigger version and very easy to learn,,framing is the worst but once you’ve got that the worlds your oyster so to say..Thinking of you all and hope you vote in a President who will take care of ALL of you,,not just Some,,our previous government was like that we voted them out,,had we not,,we’d be the same as you,,Money first and people Second,,now we live in NZ PEOPLE FIRST and our Government have helped business with Money Packages to keep them going ,now NZ Citizens are flying around our country and our tourist industry is doing as well as it did again before Covid with NZ people holidaying at home instead of flying across the world…All the best and wish you well…
Beautiful thought. My thinking exactly. Now, putting it into action. And remembering what slow action means to me and to our planet.
I enjoy reading you pieces but this my favorite. Raw, open and relatable
I just retired and I’m enjoying life. I’m blogging and card making reading everything I can get my hands on. Buying a farm up north and starting again at 71. I love my age I have more energy now then when I was younger? I’m relaxed now. Love life and everything it brings me.
Slow writing my book. Instead of feeling bad about having a five year old draft I still haven’t revised and published (as I told everyone i would do )I feel like the very slowness of it has mellowed my thinking and my words and are making them much more delicious than they originally were. Something like what happens to a really good cheddar. It’s going to have a much sharper bite and a better flavor than if I had just said « ok this is done » and put it out on the cheese shelf 5 years ago.. Slow writing! Guilt and regret begone!
I really am starting to enjoy thinking slower. As I am part of a younger generation, I am constantly surrounded with things that are moving fast, so my thinking became more and more fast-paced. I am starting to realize that fast doesn’t always win the race, and that thinking slower is really the way to be the best me. Has anyone else felt like their thinking has been fast-paced?
Slow living. Like you, I stopped the manicures and my nails are healthier. My natural hair color is here and I love it! White in the front. Dark and white streaks in the back. I have learned to cut it myself and it looks great. I snip it into shape every two weeks or so. Wow! The money I will save tbere. I am loving slow knitting and reading and walking. The Zoom with social groups is working fine. I am cooking much better and enjoying my little pocket gardens. I am fine with the slow pace. Enjoying music more. I have allowed a couple of close neighbors into my outside space. I do not miss consumerism at all.
I am moving into a new apartment, slowly. My belongings are in storage and have been for several years so I have the luxury of moving myself little by little. I don’t feel frantic. As I open each box, I find myself remembering where I bought each item. Copper and a crepe pan from Dehillerin in Paris. A Limoges teapot, cream and sugar bowl from Zell’s going out of business sale, a beautiful prize winning basket by Patti Hill purchased at the Southern Highland Guild on the Blue Ridge Highway, my grandmother’s well used roasting pan…it is a gift.
I’m a potter and live in the country. I’m getting ready to open a little gallery with my friends (also potters) in the breezeway of my barn home. I try to live slow, but could do so much better. You are an inspiration. I enjoy your thoughts and writing.
This has been a deep and broadening time for my spiritual practices. I am so grateful to have this time and focus. ????
I wanted my life to count.
I was called to have a career that enabled me to love people
when they were most in need of love.
I spent 27 years giving all that I could give
to as many as I could
until compassion fatigue set in.
I sacrificed sleep to build a passive income stream
But the 2-year routine that required
began to constrict my creativity.
Whenever free flow becomes inhibited,
I am compelled to stop and reboot.
Although I spent a lifetime enjoying becoming established,
I couldn’t be more pleased to have the second half of that lifetime
to dis-establish.
All I wanted was a small, slow, beautiful, quiet, simple life.
And that’s what I’ve created.
Now I am content living a life where calm can thrive.
One year ago, we moved back to my home town and state. I had been a county social worker for 35 years in a large city and I was burnt. My husband has his own business which allowed us to move before retirement. We had owned a 5 acre lot with a beautiful view outside of town for a number of years which we had hoped to build a house on one day. So we designed a home and they started building last June. We moved in February and I’m thrilled to have a room set aside for me to create. I make hooked rugs and the process of pulling wool loops is relaxing and gratifying. It’s a slow process to complete a hooked rug which appeals to me. We are loving the slower pace of a smaller community, getting to know the local store and restaurant owners, running into people we know when we are out, and less traffic!
Thank you for sharing. Your blog is so beautifully written. I always enjoy reading what you write.
I am painting my toe nails fun colors (I haven’t done this in years!), playing with my cats more, and have found myself no longer rushing around. I have also returned to listening to my Hindu chants and meditating. Perhaps I am entering a new phase in my life.
~Chris
Finally sitting. Just sitting! Just sitting on my deck and observing the sun. The beauty of the sun as it came up this morning and leaving me this afternoon!! Yes I sat here all day!! Smiles
A lot of wisdom in your words. I’ve always wanted to get back to my old passion for drawing. I’ve put it off for a long time…jobs, kids, a failing marriage…all excuses. I have always knitted or crocheted and more so when I retired.
Since my hip replacement in 2018 I have fully retired and moved to an independent senior community near two of my daughters. Since the COVID came along I realized it’s never too late, our time on this earth is limited, so I went back to that old passion. Slow and steady I’ve made several charcoal drawings, of which I’m very proud. At 70 I realized it really is never too late. Being alone does have it’s perks…I’m still basically a lazy nester, but now, a more productive one. Thank you for all your insightful blogs! ?
i realized my entire life is now slow. like, what day is it slow…i find no rush to “do” all of the things that need doing. i don’t see our life in the time of covid ending any time soon – so what’s the rush. i do have plans to finish everything i’ve started or intended. allowing everything to present itself.
funny, i keep thinking of moving upstate, as well. your state…where i grew up. 🙂
My husband and I have just done that, at 68 years old, we have left Melbourne Australia, and moved 2 hours drive away to a wood cabin on a very large piece of treed land with a stream and an old stone bridge. In Melbourne we lived across the road from the beach, a great view with the city skyline to our left. Everyone’s idea of heaven, except it was slowly turning into hell. When Covid came and everyone had to stay home they all exercised out the front of our house, hundreds of people and kids, all making noise and dropping rubbish! Sure we can’t see our kids or grandchildren because they are all back in lockdown as Covid 2.0 takes Melbourne, but can still talk on the phone. There is no Covid anywhere where we now live, the only noise is birdsong or cattle mooing, fabulous. I’ve always been a fashionista and I have filled the 2 spare bedrooms with clothes I’ve made over the years, my mantra was to only wear silk, wool, linen or cotton. I’m now wondering if I’ll ever wear most of them again, let alone the hoards of fabric I brought with me that fills my sewing room. It’s mid winter here, I’ll sit by the fire and knit, in spring I will plant the 600+ plants we brought with us, life is good.
I have been reading your blog/microblog for a while now. I enjoy pausing to read your woven thoughts. At the end of your longer posts, I feel I have a tapestry to contemplate. I have not much participated in the commentary during ‘this great disrupter’, but I have preferred to watch and observe. Not just in the digital world, but in my local community. I am based in Melbourne, Australia. At a local level, I have seen change in people. Positive change. I see families playing together. There are bikes, scooters and laughter. The family dog has never been so entertained. I say hello to people I’ve never seen before. I see children’s chalk art on the footpaths. Yet I know for many of these people, there is the added stress of vulnerable family members and unemployment. Some small businesses will not survive this disruption. But all of these people are connected through community. This is real, authenticate and genuine. On the digital side, I see a lot of noise to sift through to find a truth. Increasingly, I find myself reading the news for a small period of time and then switching it off. I don’t consider a news article filled with a Twitter feed to be journalism. Your comments on journalism resonate. The timing of your post is uncanny. Last week I decided less news was what I needed, but quality journalism was what I wanted, so I took up a newspaper subscription. My new slow is the newspaper, observation and listening. Significant change is happening in the world. My optimistic side hopes that it is for the better.
Slow Cooking!
I so loved your post and ha e forwarded it on to my good friends . My hands are hands of a massage therapist and when I look at them they are injured and bent . They have danced and healed for many years . They also want to dance a new dance of slowness , maybe pick up some knitting needles , pet a few more dogs that may need homes . Thank you so very much for your sage advice on seeing my hands a little different tonight.
Taking care of my Mother & a couple of my grandchildren. Trying to stay healthy; resting A LOT! Thinking about the precious fragility of life. Reaching out to others through technology more often. Trying to stay more in5the moment.
I, too, am slowing down during this time. I have had a sitting practice for nearly 30 years but even so I am noticing a difference in the way I am living my life. I am fortunate in that I live in Oregon and have a wonderful large home with a wonderful large yard. I have always enjoyed “gardening” (what it really is is “working in the yard”) and in the past I could spend both weekend days out in the yard for 5-6 hours a day and feel fine. Now I am 74 and it takes me longer to get anything done. So now I am satisfied with myself when a day in the garden means I am staking up a cucumber plant, putting slug bait around the blue lake bush bean plant, fertilizing the hanging baskets of fuschia, brilliantly orange begonias, pots of petunias, bicopa, and daisy, watering the basil and Italian parsley…looking over the hostas and the dizzy lizzys…..not worried now about how much work I can do in the garden, just enjoying tending the garden rather that “working” it.
Here in Oregon where I live we are only in phase one of opening up and so after 4 months I could get a pedicure and get a haircut. Other than waiting for the pedicure, I found that it was OK if my hair grew longer and I found a new way to wear it up. I miss my three sons and hugging them, as I am sure all of us who have children do, and I miss the events of my grand children’s life passages, but I am thankful for all that I have. I heard a quote the other day on the radio that said “Gratitude is what makes what you have all you need”. That is where I am. I always enjoy your postings. All of our life’s are different. Thank you for sharing.
This is exactly what I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. Just to slow down. Stop the frenetic pace of everything. Working from home has been so good for my mental health. Just not having to deal with the crazy pace of traffic, and rushing, and always feeling like there’s never enough time. Your words put it all very eloquently.
I have been “slow” most of my life: recycle like a madwoman, buy only thrifted clothes, live in a small home, retro aspects such as no dishwasher, microwave, ice maker, 60 yr. old vacuum, lots of solitude,reading, painting, you get the idea. I’ve never had an appreciation for being so busy you can’t breathe… has made me feel isolated quite often but am constitutionally, psychically and morally incapable of joining the “mewling hordes”. I am hoping that all of the many changes in this society (and, hopefully, globally) will bring down some of the institutions and thought processes that keep people believing busyness is self- worth… thanks for listening. hope you enjoy all of those bouquets in every room!
I’m so liking your honesty, in a world that is filled with negativity, I’m enjoying your candor in this blog. For the first time in my life, I’m allowing myself to feel everything, whether good or bad, without fear of controlled outcomes.
This year I’ll be 61 myself. I am always active and working since the age of 19 while studying and until now. I founded OOTD – Out Of The Drawer that is the embrace society to reduce reuse and relove things especially fashion, thus preloved goods with some of the earned sales go to support underpiviledge cancer warriors kids and kids education. Now I am collaborating with SETALI on an upcycle project in fashion. I also doing my old hobby again that is planting orchids, treating them with organic insecticide from onion peels and fertilise it with banana peel, using plastic bottles waste to water culture saving their lives (those with weakened leaves) … those are some of my ‘slow’ things that am doing now.
Thank you for always inspiring. I would love to have a chat with you on my IG Live #DahliaChatRoom I am looking forward for it. Appreciate to hear the good news.
Thank you.
Best,
Dahlia Sardjono
Jakarta – Indonesia
Hi, well I’m like you. I have learned to take my time. Laundry, dishes, cleaning etc. missing my mom too. At 92, I can’t see her bc to see her when I fly to Illinois from Colorado I have to quarantine for 2 weeks before I see her in her nursing home. I decided to take her out and bring her home. I will with help spend precious time that’s left with her. Clean her, feed her and bathe her. It’s an honor Something I might not have done if it wasn’t for Covid. She’s been horribly isolated and depressed. Thank you
This year has brought its share of challenges for me. Because of that, slowing down has taken on a whole new meaning. I am more deliberate in everything I do. It is as if I’ve accepted that the process of getting somewhere is much more important to me than actually being there. When I “slow the roll” I am more likely to enjoy being wherever “there” is because I took my sweet, little time to arrive. It has caused me to do a lot of reflection which always comes with growing older. But, THAT is not a BAD thing. I can just appreciate things more because I’ve slowed down long enough to savor the joy of unexpected moments.
So good!
This was so moving and one of the first circumstantial descriptions I’ve actually related to. Thank you.
Beautiful article which expresses how I feel too. Thank you.
Hey, greetings from Bsth, UK.
I’ve also slowed down, to the point of feeling I’m living a different life. Savouring my morning coffee, rather than it being an incidental activity as I get ready for work. Ive now got an allotment and I take great delight growing my own vegetables and feel more in touch with the cycle of life.
HOW I SLOWED DOWN:
During our lockdown in Switzerland, I dashed to the forest for a walk every day, and when I got there, I kept up my fast hiking pace, checking the kilometres I had covered on my iPhone App, as was my habit. I could not sit down, rest or contemplate, because I felt it was a waste of time. After eight weeks, I asked myself: “What’s the rush”? Yes, what was the rush? I was fraught and could not answer this question, my nerves still frayed from the habit of “endless doing.”
A few more weeks in, I noticed that without much thought, I had in fact slowed down my pace, and had become slightly more observing of my surroundings. Then one happened, quite out of the blue and certainly not planned, or on my “to-do” list, I actually sat down on a log in a clearing. A shaft of sunlight seemed to have spotlighted me, and held me in its warmth, while a gentle zephyr, touched, tickled and caressed my skin. I knew I was in the presence of something so magnificent and so vast, and a line of poetry came to mind (from the 12th Century Mystic, Rumi): “What was said to the rose that made it open, was said to me, here in my chest.”
I was astounded at how ignorant I had been, displaying the behaviour of a rat unimpeded by the wheel, how attached I was to the superficial, and in the process, had fanned the flames of destruction. How blinded I had become by the unimportant.
The following day, when I “accidentally,” left my phone at home, I knew that my Slowdown, had begun.
•Parenting
•Understanding tech
•Learning about building
•Knowing myself
For your contemplation: The Sun periodical sounds like the slow journalism you’ve described. It’s a mix of long interview, short stories, essays on a month’s topic, and one chosen revisited old classic that many people treasure. I encourage you to seek this publication out. There is no advertising, the photography is arresting, and the approach to social justice almost always hits a fresh note.
Thank you for this post. I am shopping a lot at our local vintage store which is turning itself into a hub for “slow”… well to be honest it always advocated this. They give classes on mending clothes (online now) and even have a mending library to loan out to people who do not have the supplies. There is something about holding an item in your hand, seeing that it still has value if you take a bit of time to care for it personally. Making your footprint smaller, not bigger. Such a contrast to the self-involved, thoughtless, criminal culture of the current administration.
Can you share who made your blouse? It is just lovely and a perfect item for your essay because it evokes a sense of time gone by.
Beautifully done
During this time of COVID, I have become aware of my relationship to time. Never enough! Thus, I’ve had a tendency to rush through everything to get to the next “to do.” By the end of the day I’m exhausted and resentful. I’ve made it a spiritual practice to slow down, enjoy each task or activity and take mini breaks during the day, not waiting until the end of the day to finally stop. I am finding this brings more joy to my life. My new mantra is “slow down and everything will get done.” I will consciously work to maintain this slow approach as the world opens up again. However, I’m in no rush to jump back in!
This post really struck a chord woth me. I began to feel exactly this way about ten years ago and have been working in this direction with fits and starts ever since then …I have gotten the big tasks done…retired, got rid of the “too big for us” house and donated a houseful of stuff along the way. Trouble is, I keep accumulating (albeit slower, lol) and life just keeps rushing past with all the new challenges every day that force me to GET THINGS DONE!!! NOW! Still I repeat that old Serenity Prayer and try again , each day…
So keep reminding us and posting, sweet lady….it is the key to aging gracefully, I’m convinced of that.
You are spot on about choosing slow, I think people don’t realize that they can choose that path and can still function well in society. I think perhaps because media is at least partially driven by advertising (to pay their writers and web developers), the conflict arises from the desire to — or fear that they won’t — satisfy both the reader and the advertiser.
And flowers are always a good investment.
This post was most timely. I’ve just completed the first week of a sabbatical where my focus is “what does a rich and textured life look like in post-9-to-5 career/job/employment and living on a fixed income?” My original exploration did not factor in a pandemic. I thought I would focus on the cultural, study, and volunteer opportunities for elders in my hometown, and that I would take advantage of the many free performances, classes, and art museums/galleries as well as hang out in my favorite coffee shops and bakeries. COVID-19 put wrench in that. However, reading your post has sent me on an exploration of slow living as foundation for a “rich and textured life.” And while I miss chatting over the counter with the owner of my hot chocolate shop, it was a small joy to check-in with him — mask-to-mask in my condo lobby — when he delivered the dark chocolate chips that allow me to enjoy that beverage at home, including grating three-colored peppercorns over the top and adding a dollop of whipped cream. So now I am thinking about how to empty my days — housekeeping, zooming with friends and family, cooking, walking, online museum visits, and online classes and webinars, etc. easily fill a day. I can accommodate grief and joy at the same time. I am looking forward to studying the slow life online and IRL. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Love your post . When I learned about writing a paper , reporting a story , we were taught to get your facts straight, get them accurate, give both sides of a story , be responsible. That lesson has stayed with me . It is how I know when I am reading and hearing crap.
Gardening has been my passion for ever … it’s a family addiction. We all grow something !! I admire your sewing abilities , something my mom has never been able to teach me .
I recently have jumped out of retirement into a big job as executive director of a statewide nonprofit supporting the land, sustainable agriculture, and a just food and farm system (to paraphrase our mission). During the pandemic, more and more people who have never grown their own food, are turning to this practice. Generally knowIng some how through the disruption in our food systems, that local food, rural living, slowing down and making thoughtful choices are essential now to retain vigor and overall health of body and mind. It’s been amazing to observe, to watch, this increased interest and passion for locally grown food and growing. We think it will endure long past the pandemic. Your recent focus on “slow” and other ideas of the “big picture” —all life connected have been delightful.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Although I am retired and live in a beach resort where we think we live at a slower pace, the world around us is moving too quickly for me. You do get caught up in it, whether you chosse to or not. Once you go out on the highway, grocery shopping or really any activity outside of your environment you are sucked up in a fast moving energy. I too am enjoying the slow pace which I have more of now since I go out less. I enjoy dicovering new things which are availabe to us all via the internet. I feel sorry for those who are complaining about being bored. They don’t realize the opportunity that we have been given to just stop, pause, breath and BE.
Looking forward to your next emai.
I had been introducing slow into my life for years but could not reconcile this way with the pace of the world coming toward me. This interruption has allowed me to sink into the flow of slow. My vegetable garden groans with bounty, I am learning Japanese draping techniques, indigo dyeing, embroidering. Present. I just had to slow down to find my own pace.
insta: suzannenorthcott
You write about things that matter.
“I love a lot of the way I’ve been living”.
Me too. It’s almost as if I’ve been practicing my whole life for this.
One winter I spent my sabbatical at a monastery, working on a drawing project with a resident monk, much of the time in total silence. My mother thought I was crazy, and said they’d never be able to shut me up, yet they did. I am still able to re-enter that silent state at will, and have been relishing the silence of my self-quarantine. It’s true that other senses move to the front burner. There is less need for thoughts, so they diminish.
I’ve settled into a simple and satisfying routine of studio work, reading, and an afternoon walk. Two drawing projects are in progress on the table, so if I get bored with one, I just switch to the other. At the end of each day, I make a quickie bird drawing to snail mail to people who are quarantined in nursing homes and looking for cards and letters, discovered on an Instagram page (@victorianseniorcare)
I like when you post, because then I write, and I like writing. I also like your commentariat, so many like minded older women. Wishing everyone good health until next time 🙂
sewing, sewing, sewing. writing in my journal. thinking. walking often.
I am looking through my Art archives and learning a lot from them. …. I feel that the laundry can wait…. My hair is fine just the way it is… Less is more… Accepting and moving forward…
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20200630-how-knitting-became-cool?ocid=ww.social.link.email
Don’t know if you’re a knitter, but very timely article that you may find interesting. Slow and sustainable fashion creating. Read this between knitting rounds on a sweater!
Really enjoyed reading your recent post. I live in a wooded suburban area where we enjoy gardening and local wildlife. We have a studio building next to our home that I share with my photographer husband. I use it to sew, weave, rug hook, and paint. Hope you find a place where you can land that’s peaceful and inspiring!
I have been sewing, thrifting some, and writing. Enjoyed your letter. Don’t wait to move just do it. You will have a great adventure to write more even more❤️
Inspiring and reinforcing. I do a lot of “slow” for the last few years. I slow cook, I slow garden, I slow bake, I slow fashion and I slow read lol. My mind however – specifically my anxiety – is not slowing down. My 10 minute daily meditation practice is helping but only a little bit. I sometimes feel that I need to ingest and breathe slow so in order to find peace.
You are amazing, body and soul, and thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
p.s. English is not my first language, just in case!
Thank you for sharing your journey.
Women are charged with reinventing themselves for marriage, motherhood, empty nest, retirement, care giving…
I applaud you for your transition from professional educator and fashion icon to your new, unlabeled self.
I share a commenter’s nagging “should”. Mine says, “You should…” but never fills in the what. So, no matter what or how much I do, it’s never enough. I work at telling it to shut up.
My slow life :
Pulling weeds
Picking lettuce and raspberries
Adopting two feral kittens
Group texts with family
Watching the sunset with a couple friends eating ice cream cones
Reading Tao Te Ching
We have been working on the slow life for a few years now. It has felt good to settle in and embrace what the day brings, not what we bring to it. During this time I’ve been more intentional in educating myself on all that going on and finding some reading time – which has been sorely neglected. The farm you speak of sounds like bliss. My dream for when we retire yet I’m afraid my back doesn’t have the same dream. Be well.
I have just started reading your posts and love your style. Very inspirational. I’ve been working from home since March and I certainly appreciate the slow life. I’ve done several jigsaw puzzles and got back to NY Times crossword puzzles, and now that the weather is nicer, I’ve started gardening and have put up bird feeders.
Your comment about constantly washing your hands and using lotion to keep them supple was actually the inspiration for my contribution to your page. My hands get really dry and my cuticles crack in the cold weather. Even though I use a good lotion. Ick! Last year a friend told me to use goats milk soap because goats milk has almost the same ph as human skin. It is magical! From the first use, I could tell the difference and in this time of the pandemic, I’ve shared that information with lots of my friends.
These words ring with experience, sincerity, and the sanity that’s been lack for centuries, thank you so much, iconic woman!)
It is the most true in all its simplicity as truth tends to be. o
Some people ask why it’s so hard to slow down. How about millenia of the protestant work ethic and never mind all the rest for now.
My friend, a professional, wrote today (Sunday) saying she was in bliss at home, just puttering around. Puttering! o the shame! o the heavenly happiness of it! I responded that I hoped it would not get out, because then it would become a Thing, and that would be its ruin.
And here I am… getting it out. But we are pretty much female here, right? so no worries.
Puttering has been a secret love all my life of living mostly alone in a modest home I own. I feel the love for every little thing of
beauty and all my things have beauty to my loving eyes, ears, nose, hands. To putter is to live!
I so enjoy your mind! Being slower, not having to go out and teach, doing nothing for a part of the day is a new experience that I am liking. I do find it funny about what you are saying regarding moving out to the country, planting your own food, re-purposing your clothes, not doing your nails (being more natural) etc. This is a desire at this time for you and many. Why is it funny to me? Well, I did that from the 1970s to the 1990s and it was very rewarding. To grow your own food, to can it, freeze it, dry it, then eat it is a satisfying journey. To create your own “new” clothes, artistically, intuitively, and practically, means that you are designing a unique work of art that is “you” and only “you”. Being in a community of like minded, Mother Earth loving people is a comfort and educational – a connection of hearts, mind and the Earth. Now though I live in the city in a 55 plus cooperative apartment and am loving it. Keeping it simple, sitting on my balcony enjoying the forest and quiet street view, I enjoy watching the clouds. When I go for a walk, I make it a point to stop and say, “Hello,” and talk to neighbours who are working in their gardens. I even ask their names, trying to remember them because I want to feel friendly not only to my apartment friends, but to the people in my greater community. I feel safer as I walk around and call out to people using their names. Life is becoming simpler and friendlier.
Beautiful article outlining exactly what I feel although in my case I am going through an internal battle as I am not just longing but I am pushed to grow my business … I feel that it is my mission and that from this growth will come a lot of good and beauty.
Online it is and seeing local customers although my intuition and senses keep showing me a bridge between Australia (where I live), France (where I was born) and the US (where the growth of my business might take place).
I have had my own business for almost 13 years so slow and steady has been the name of the game.
You inspire me!
Seeing your photo, I thought, my God, how erotic and young she feels !!
I want to have time with me too, to roll slowly and beautifully!
Many kisses from Greece!
Slow stitching has helped me through the quarantine – quilting, knitting, crochet, appliqué – all the things my grandmother and mother taught me. I seem to find endless projects. They are very stress relieving and I have something to show for my time when finished. I’m also coloring – have a book of mandalas that help pass the time.
Your recent blog post brings up issues that should be more widely discussed.
Let’s talk about moving to the country.
I will make some points that are not directed at you personally. I want to gently discuss the environmental costs of your desire.
So you want to move to the country and have your own flower and vegetable garden?
Will you need a car? Maybe also a small pickup to haul plants, soil amendments and all the tools you will need? How will you till your garden?Mow your grass? Probably with a small tractor like a lawn tractor (unless you plan to till the soil in your garden with a shovel and a very strong back). What fuel will your car(s) and lawn tractor use?
You will need a house. How many people will be sheltered in your house? Two? Four? What fuel will you use to heat the house and your hot water?
Where will your water come from? A well pulling water from the aquifer? Maybe a natural spring?
How much water will you use to run your house and water your garden?
These few questions are the tip of the (melting) iceberg.
To save our beloved planet we must live in cities. Cities are a far more efficient way to use our limited natural resources.
Think of an apartment building. There are 250 people living in one large shelter reaping the energy saving benefits of mostly shared walls.
There is one laundry room and one place where the grey waste water is discharged.
There is one mailroom where delivery is made by one post carrier on foot.
There is public transportation and it’s possible to walk or use a bike because everything is in one place, close together.
This is a complicated discussion and I am not an expert by any means. However it seems very obvious to me that we can’t afford to cover our planet with millions of houses spread over every inch of available land.
Let’s live together in cities and give Mother Nature a little breathing room. Take the train to your favorite country hotel. Enjoy the restaurant and gardens. Come home renewed by the natural world. Then put on your gardening gloves and take your trowel to your local community garden.
Interesting questions. We are looking to move to a smaller city update, not the country. The housed have yards That being said we chose where we did so we would not need a car.It is walking distance from a rail line that will take me to my daughter, my mother, and NYC if I need to be there. We haven’t owned one for a very long time. I am very interested in the Slow Cities movement and finding a progressive place where the sorts of collective values and ideas can actually be nurtured and can happen. We’ve already met folks there who are thinking along those lines. NYC is a hub of greed, has no affordable housing, poor social services. It is a massive bureaucracy that I have tried to change in many ways for the last 45 years. Your questions are good ones but cities that exist with such horrible inequality and where the wealth and resources are not shared are not good for anyone. A smaller city where there can be real hope for change is where I want to send the last few years that I have.
Your “Self” sleuthing is always amazing as I find you give so much! Thank you. I’ve begun noting how I may finally have entered the state I was urged to enter by Caroline Myss some 30 years ago in a reading: “Just be.” Entering the phases of dissolution coming as a result of concluding this divorcing process (it was SO the right direction), I’m finding the downsizing phase being both aghast at and delighted to be doing. Where is this stuff going to go? Not with me as it is just too much. Anyone interested in a place with a greenhouse on 5+ acres that’s too much to take care of? I’m finding myself loving just being in the flow of the process . . . and trusting deeply that I’m living in Divine Order and finally sensing it in the living of it. I also find the critical ingredient to not keeping me chained anywhere is to forgive . . . and I’m not thinking of our usual thought of that . . . I’m thinking of the level that sees your brother/sister in that being as though they never did anything wrong. That’s making life a much lovelier dance. Blessings always.
Love that you are moving through your journey with such grace.
Excellent. Thank you. Your words weave a safety net of comfort and thoughts that are so needed at this time.
I live in Cuenca Ecuador and by nature, it is slower than most other countries. I have found this time to be extremely beneficial to my well being. Which to me, is sad, in that I am here and content, and others are suffering and dying. Our city of Cuenca is a little over half a million. March 15th Ecuador closed the country. Curfew from 2:00 pm to 5:00 am, mask mandatory. NO COMPLAINTS! Everyone wore and continues to wear. You will get a ticket without a mask. And absolutely no entry anywhere without one.
I do believe there is a silver lining. It is a belief that fortifies me daily. Without it, I would be lost in all the sadness and noise. Again thank you for your gifted words. xok
Thank you for sharing the experience from Ecuador.
Beautiful!
Currently, there is a large dissonance between Life At Home vs the news of the world.
I feel privileged to have a safe and beautiful space to shelter in, sensing the needs of the day and responding to them. I do have my middle of the night worries about money, mortality, etc, but I also can choose to find pleasure in the small daily moments and environments.
The contrast is the world of mayhem, sound bites, extreme competition for resources, The Story of what is happening now—not necessarily our story, but affecting us nonetheless.
Perhaps your thoughts explain why I feel I want to be in charge of my own narrative right now.
I AM doing A LOT OF SLOW.I think I was the only person who did not clean out her closet and drawers and home during the first THREE MONTHS!I knew inside when this all happened it wouldn’t be over in a month or TWO……….here we are in month five and I see us in SHELTER IN PLACE MODE for a long long time.ALTHOUGH, YOU New Yorkers are emerging…………LOOK AT HOUSTON BACK INTO LOCKDOWN.IF people would just do what is required LIKE ITALY DID we would be in a much better situation!Then again WE have NO LEADER………..he put a MASK on I hear FINALLY but” does not LIKE THE WAY HE LOOKS?”IDIOT OF A MAN……………..I feared way before all of this COVID-19 started he was going to KILL US ALL.Here I got off track with your SLOW MOVEMENT!WHAT AM I DOING………reading, gardening, cooking and sitting A LOT!
Plus, I have discovered SKINCARE!May have to do a BLOG POST ON THAT!
XX
I empathize hard to stay on track when there is a new unbelievable thing happening every day.
I have been back in my salon since May 22 serving clients. The energy of the salon is much slower. Safety, sanitation, and well-being. I must say it is working out great. It has never been about the money or the numbers. Long, slow, relaxing shampoos, win the clients over. We are good listeners and enjoy a slow story or two. No double booking, no squeezing in as they say. Slow is much more comfortable and safe for everyone. Taking and appreciating our time is a gift. I save your posts so I can read slowly each and every word. Thanks for all the inspiration you bring to everyone following you.
Thank you for this beautiful post!! Always love reading your thoughts. You are so original and authentic.
Since chatting to you on the podcast, I’ve been following you and enjoying your content. I always get so much out of your writing Lyn! Thank you for the thoughtfulness of what you write and how you convey your ideas! I want to slow down and not pump out more and more content. I feel as though my blog doesn’t fully encompass who I am. Yes, it covers the comfort food and cocktails to I like to make and consume, but it doesn’t cover the part of me that lives cleanly, sustainably and healthily. I will be starting another blog that tackles that part of me and also touches upon aging. Thank you for all you do! You rock, inspire me and are appreciated.
Crocheting a scarf and hat for a friend for winter.
Taking more time to enjoy “porch sitting” on my screened porch…coffee in the morning and evening relaxation…listening to birds, journal writing. It feels good to keep life simple, enjoy nature and break away from so much negative news. Finding ways to balance my life and appreciate it.
You’re the only one beauty blogger that can receive such long complimenting comments on each of your every post!
I couldn’t agree with you more!
As always a very thought out, deep and sensitive, delicate and “nu” writing. I ‘m always running from one activity to another, my head doing 1 thing, my body something different; now I try to consciously take a break between cores, activities and turn inwards; trying to keep my head close to what I’m doing. I’m doing fine in the morning, but by noon I forget about my intentions and I’m scampering through what ever I have to do. This is my attempt at slow living.
Beautiful article with inspiration, thanks for sharing it. Visit my blog also.
I have been out of work for 4 months now – it’s a big relief on one hand, and it’s been odd in other ways. I still have to get up at 4:00 a.m. to get my husband off to work, then it’s laundry, cleaning, feeding the inside kitty, feeding the outside kitty, getting them both to the vet for shots, teeth cleanings, etc., searching for a new apartment, grocery shopping and cooking dinner – until now I wonder how on earth I had time to work!! I am also crocheting every day again, it’s been wonderful to relax, cook new recipes, redecorate. Also – I was working in a small office that was a nightmare, my boss was a screamer and I ended up with acute gastritis among other things, so this time has been a relief for my nervous system. Women, in my opinion, are often mistreated in the workplace, I don’t care what anyone says – we are not, in general, paid as well as males, or treated as well, I have seen it all. I will NEVER go back to the silly office atmosphere, done with all that! Happiness comes first!!
Thank you for this post. I love the phrase, “slow living movement.” I practice slow living every morning before I have to deal with the busyness that comes with the work day. I sit outside with my journal and a cup of coffee, and a write about whatever is on my mind. And I write as long as it takes for me to process my thoughts. And in the process I think I’ve made friends with a small bunny, a chipmunk, and many birds. Because I make no sudden movements, they are free to run errands and eat the low hanging vegetables in my garden. I guess I am now accepted as part of their landscape because although they notice that I’m there, they aren’t afraid to go about their business, even if it means coming a little too close for my comfort. I look forward to the morning. I look forward to noticing something beautiful in God’s creation every day. It calms my spirit.
I opened my online store near the beginning of this year and I felt this urgency to become profitable as soon as possible, so I would have something to justify this career move to my friends and family. Six months later and I feel how much more important it is to learn and be patient. Running my own business required me to learn totally new skills and push myself out of my comfort zone. Why was that not enough? Sigh.
Thank you so much for your blog.
I am a graduate student with SNHU and the topic of relevance came up during the course of our discussions regarding social media and in what ways we aim to stay relevant with the culture. I gave your blog as an example of a woman who is totally relevant. I continue to push back on the status quo of teaching the use of social media as it has been used, my argument being that our consciousness is changing because of slowing down. What we need is different, who we are is different, and how we relate to ourselves is different. Authenticity takes time, as the folks who have commented here that perhaps letter writing by hand is more appealing than a quick email, because we are seeing ourselves in the world through a different lens.
Thank you so much for deciding to write, I am thrilled to have such a wonderful example of what is possible. I am still doing my research on how it blogging functions and your writing is top drawer. I have shared it with my sisters, who I think will enjoy it as well. Thank you again for being authentic, relevant and mindful.
Peace, Roni
Very very interesting!!!
Woooow. It’s very interesting!!! Cheers
A good friend and neighbor just suggested that I check out your blog, and everything here speaks to me. I discovered the book ‘Slow Stitch’ by Claire Wellesley Smith a few years ago, and it entirely changed my way of doing needlework. It is impossible to rush meticulous hand stitching. During the pandemic I’ve been making cloth dolls, and, when I post pictures of them, the most frequent responses are words like: calm, serene, cozy, quiet and gentle. I make them with pure linen and stuff them with wool and cotton fibers. Handling all natural materials settles me. I’d never have spent so much time on such a project without a pandemic to remove the impulse to jump in the car and go somewhere. While we are all overwhelmed by the suffering, (mental, physical, and spiritual,) all around us in our families, our communities and our world, this time has become, for me, a curious invitation to stop denying my 75 years and to enjoy, embrace and appreciate this time of life.
Right now I am having a mad love affair with the Quiet…I spend a good part of my day at my desk, in front of 18 feet of windows that overlook the continual movement of the sky and the massive white cumulus clouds that hang out with the sun. At over 8500 feet in the Andes Mountains, there is natural tranquility that prevails. Even in our city of 600 thousand, there is a softness about the people, a slowness that comes about organically. I’m happy in my seclusion. There is always something new to discover, read, see. I like to think of it as a gift of reflection.
thank you Lynn for your words and thoughts.
be well
“poured” not pored
Just read this, beautiful. I’m too loving the slow life, having my own schedule, going for long walks/runs listening to audio books.