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?
beautiful
Poured
Thank you
Working on an Alabama Chanin swing skirt kit. Close to 16,000 stiches when all said and done. Slow but steady.
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.
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…
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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. 🙂
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
Beautiful article which expresses how I feel too. Thank you.
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!
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.
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
“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.
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!
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
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!
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.
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.
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