Slow Sunday

Welcome to Slow Sunday: a weekly feature exploring the journey to slow living and embracing joy in simplicity.

If you’ve never heard of the “Slow Living Movement” you might immediately think “oh neat, another trend”, but I think it would be a mistake to dismiss this as merely a flash in a pan.  Slow living isn’t a trend, or a challenge, or a craze.

Slow living is a value.  Slow living is simply an approach to life where you practice focus and awareness so that you can live better, not just faster.

If you take two people who have wildly different diets and you ask them to do some sort of diet challenge they’re probably going to have wildly different results.  A person who already has a balanced and highly variable diet is probably not going to see value in restriction, in fact it may do more harm than good.  A person who tends to eat a lot of fast food and neglect their fruits and vegetables is probably going to finish the challenge feeling like their life has been changed.

Slow Living is not a one size fits all diet that is being handed to you with rules about what you can consume and when you can consume it. 

Slow Living isn’t a challenge for people fighting burnout and exhaustion.  The perfect candidate for slow living isn’t the stressed out, hot shot, big city lawyer who can’t find love (I’m looking at you Hallmark).

Slow Living is for everyone because it isn’t about having the perfect life, it’s about having the perfect life for you. 

You don’t have to become a minimalist, or a vegan, or a homesteader.  All you have to do is decide what is important to you and live with intention.  

To some people this will mean massive life changes, to some this will mean smaller life changes.  For me, I am slowing it down by evaluating where my time is going and what is not adding value to my life.  It’s not necessarily easy and I am not necessarily good at it either.  While the quality of my life improves when I take the time to sit down and read a book or go for a walk at the beach, the voice in my head likes to remind me that there is laundry that needs to be folded. I tend to obsess over implementing systems and scheduling my time; writing list after list after list.  What actually works? Editing down my to do list.  Do you know what is easier than spending hundreds of dollars on acrylic storage containers and committing endless hours to organizing your clutter?  Having less clutter.  

It is easier said than done.  It is an ongoing conscious effort every single day to ask yourself what is bringing meaning to your life, and what is just white noise.  It might be guilt at declining invitations, it might be unlearning compulsive shopping habits, or it might just be dedicating a few minutes to finishing your coffee while it is still hot. 

So my Slow Sunday challenge is this: say no to one thing that is challenging your happiness this week. Part with an item you’re keeping out of obligation because it was a gift. Pass on an invitation without needing an excuse. Place joy at the same priority level as productivity. And, when you have a moment to spare, come back and let us know what you said no to this week.