Slow It Down

As I write this, the day is Sunday.

I am currently sitting in my backyard, perched on pillows, with my toes curling into the soft (and now quite wild) grass. Today I chose an alternative outfit to the regular bum pants and hoodie combo and am enjoying the sun’s kiss on my shoulders in a summer dress. I’d quite like my tan to stick around for a bit longer (lol) and I am so happy to be outside. The wind gently caresses the trees, who breathe out bliss in response. Little birds chatter out their delight of another day on earth. A little cricket says hello.

Megs, my flattie, sprawls out on a picnic blanket to my left, working away on law studies (perhaps haha). Jem melts into a beanbag reading a book. The others’ laughter and giggles echo down our long flat and float outside to greet my grateful ears.

For the first time, in what feels like ten years, I have absolutely nothing to do but whatever my heart desires (within the confines of the current lockdown). For the past four and a bit years, from studying a law degree and due to my habit of always saying yes to more things than there are hours in the day, I’ve always had something on the day’s plan that I had to do. Of course, over those years, I was quite good at giving myself breaks (also fondly known as procrastinating), but in those moments, all the things I had to complete, weighed down on my shoulders, a heavy backpack I didn’t even have the strength to throw off.

But now, having handed in my final law assignment ever a few weeks ago (friggen biggest yeow ever), I am greeted with a complete blank canvas, and so much time and energy.

So much time and energy on our hands, is a situation many of us have found ourselves in due to the four week lock down imposed in response to the Covid-19 situation. We’ve been forced to slow down.

Something I have been reflecting on this year, was the concept of having a slow life. My perspective on the definition of a slow life, is a life where you are not rushing around all the time, stressed out with how much there is to do, lost in time as it dashes by. Rather you plan what’s on your plate consciously; of course filling it up and packing it with many things, but then you approach everything with a slow mentality. You take your time. You don’t rush. And because of this, you don’t stress. You notice the little things and you remember to breathe. You find yourself enjoying each moment, not racing ahead to a time where a task is finished or when something is achieved.

I started thinking about this because, despite finishing my studies and having somewhat of the beginnings of a career, I was still feeling so much pressure to always be “succeeding” and working at something with a big purpose. Furthermore, I became quite aware that my usual response to “How are you?” was “I’m quite busy.” And that is the common answer for many of us . The word “busy” itself is tied to the negative connotations of being stressed out with too much to do. I was becoming tired of always being tired, stressed and overwhelmed. I was so busy in the do that I was forgetting to just be and enjoy it all.

I remember at the beginning of this year, during a class I was attending for my legal professionals, our teacher gave us all a blank piece of paper and promptly instructed us to draw a circle and then within it “write down all the stress we have on our plates.” People wrote down things such as university, study, work, job hunting, money, student loans. Yet, I chose to leave my page empty. The teacher saw this and asked me why. “Did I not have any stresses?” I explained that I had a different perspective on it all. Of course I too had work and uni and student loans, but rather than attaching the negative concept of stress to these words, I was choosing to just accept that I had these things on my plate…

…But I wasn’t going to stress about them, or let their magnitude overwhelm me and stop me enjoying the good parts.

This was the start of me choosing a slow life.

Although this lockdown has of course been uncomfortable at times (my adventure and to hug list for when this is over increases exponentially everyday), I am so grateful for the opportunity it has provided to really learn how to slow down. Oftentimes I have been completing a work task or have been out for a run and I feel the familiar tug of stress pull at my heart, telling me I need to speed up because there’s so many other things I’ve got to do today. Even writing this blog post, I’ve felt stress lurking behind me, telling me I need to be somewhere else. But instead of giving in to the brooding storm of overwhelm, I remember to breathe, and remind myself to just enjoy this moment right now, that there is no where else I need to be but here.

Slowing down means choosing the scenic route, not the fastest shortcut. They always say it’s about the journey not the destination. So stop and take some detours, enjoy the view, go and explore.

Instead of planning and thinking all the time, choose to feel and be.

Slowing down starts with yourself and the way you hold yourself in terms of your physical movements. Consciously walk slower, breathe slower, act slower, pause to pick some flowers. You’ll feel a calmness settling in your bones, flowing around your body and then glowing outside of you.

To slow your brain down, notice what is going on around you in this exact moment. Ground yourself into the world and the now. Listen. Look. Feel. Smell. Taste.

Of course choosing to slow down and take the scenic route can be scary because there’s no remote to pause or slow the world down. Spiraling thoughts tell you that if you stop, the world of course won’t and then people will overtake you. But to those thoughts I’d again remind you that there is no where we need to be but here.

Right here.

You need nothing beyond this moment right here. There’s no checklists to finally complete or set purpose to fulfill. In fact, there will always be an endless to do list and it is impossible to get everything done because as soon as you have finished one thing, you’ll be planning out the next. Accept this and relax into the here and now.

Go forward at a slower pace.

Keep perspective. The world is not going to end if you don’t finish everything on your to do list for the day. Obviously with this, there is a balance. Some things to have to be done, especially if you have a job. But with these necessary things, you can avoid the concept of being “stressed and busy,” and apply the same slow mentality - go sweetly and slow, breathe, relax and move one step at a time on the task at hand.

Rather than looking outward, comparing and thinking about what everyone else around you is doing, take your sweet time to look inward. How many hours have you spent scrolling Instagram looking at everyone’s “rad” lives? Don’t you realise you can and are living a miraculous extraordinary life yourself? The best thing is, you are in control of how you spend your days. Everything you need for a good life, you have within you. You are not missing out on anything. There is no such thing as a “most productive and successful award,” so constantly being busy is not worth sacrificing the precious time you have here on earth. Make time for you and the things that bring you joy - because no one else will. When you are about to embark on an endeavor - ask yourself, “Will this serve me and my greater good?”

Recently, I have put more love and effort into cooking and baking, into drawing and painting, and simply walking to enjoy watching the sun slip into the earth’s arms. These are slow activities that take time, but they bring me so much joy and peace.

Choosing the slow life aligns with the idea of not taking life too seriously. Life is too short and too wonderful to be stressed out and rushing all the time! Rather than reaching the end of the day and asking yourself what you have accomplished, and what you have succeeded in, listen to your heart and ask…

Are you satisfied with your day?

Have you loved and laughed?

Have you remembered to breathe?

Have you had fun and played?

A slow life means reaching the end of the day to find yourself, not exhausted, but relaxed and sleepy, content and full - of yummy food, adventure, dreams and a day spent being absolutely alive.

So the next time someone asks me “How are you?” I’d quite like to think my response would simply be “happy.”