Slowing Down
I recently celebrated a birthday. For me, this occasion always inspires reflection, my personal new year, complete with resolutions. Some years I resolve to focus on my health and fitness, others I lean into my professional development. But this time around, I only have one goal: Slow Down.
I find the saying true that time moves quicker as I get older. But I also find that this life is so saturated that experiences, conversations with loved ones, and special moments are getting drowned out by the noise of everything else. I want to experience the beautiful moments fully and not rush on to the next task or the next big event. I want to slow time down.
Since I can only control myself, I am looking inward. Though I’m sure there are so many strategies out there, here are some ways I’m trying to relish the small things.
Morning Coffee
Now that the retired summer heat allows me to run outside at more times than just 5:30am, mornings have become more flexible. My husband and I returned to our habit of sitting together for morning coffee. Sometimes we chat, sometimes we play music, sometimes we read the news, anything goes. Regardless of the content, this simple morning routine feels so sweet and special. It centers my day and helps me start the day off in a place of peace and presence.
Reading Classics
Yes, I realize that for many readers these day, the more books one checks off the list, the better. (I hear that some people are reading 30 plus books a month!) But for me, pulling a long, difficult book off the shelf and sitting with it for a month or two is delightful. Classics simply fill my cup in a way that most modern books can’t. Though they do not read as quickly as newly released books do, I find the time I spend slowly going through them (like me on my second month with One Hundred Years of Solitude right now) very rewarding. And while I still log my reads on my social shelf, it is less about the accomplishment (because really, who would celebrate taking months to read something?) and more about connecting with my community there.
explore in nature
For me, going outside isn’t enough. Every day, I walk or run outside but this does nothing to slow down the pace of life for me. In those times, I am most likely listening to a podcast or audiobook or talking on the phone with a long-distance friend. And even when I walk in silence, my mind is racing with the tasks that await me. But on those weekends I go camping, or the afternoons gardening, or the long hikes with my husband, or apple picking in Ellijay, or when I visit Massee Lane Gardens I feel connected to nature. And something about this quiets the rush of life and brings me squarely to the present moment.
writing
Like pen and paper writing. I’ve never been a strong journaler, but I can fill a notebook with the most random notes. From grocery lists to haikus, my spiral notebooks hold it all and have been frequent tag-alongs in my life. I want to lean into this. Trying for a daily reflection might be too much, but jotting ideas and random thoughts as they come is doable. There have also been seasons in the past where I regularly write letters. Lined stationary is rather difficult to come by, but I want to bring this back. Letter writing on a Sunday afternoon is a unique and special delight. Something about the sensation and sound of scratching a pen across the page is its own kind of therapy. And when writing a letter, thinking about a person and who they are to you and what to share with them, just slows the fast friendship down. We’re not sprinting down the street, moving so fast our faces are a blur; we’re in a rocking chair on the porch, sipping a mint julep and looking into each other’s eyes.
Gratitude
For some this might be a journal prompt, for others a meditation or prayer, but taking a few minutes every day to reflect in gratitude is just amazing. I can always tell a difference in my life when I am practicing gratitude daily and when I am not. This moment of reflection helps me savor each day. And it brings more kindness and joy to my heart.
On my next birthday, I hope I can report that it was a slow, delightful year filled with little joys. If you are also trying to soak up every second, let me know what works for you.
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