You Don’t Have to Retire to Move at a Slower Place

Resisting the urge to hurry

I created a tea blend (mango, cinnamon, ginger, and coconut) at a chai making class hosted at The Chai Box.

Rest and ease are buzzwords right now, and I don’t mean that in a negative way. Buzzwords are just an indication of what’s popular. Sometimes when we say buzzwords, we think of something that’s a fad, and, to be honest, I don’t want self-care to be a fad. I don’t want boundaries and rest to be a fad. I want them all to stay around forever. 

For so long there has been this road to achievement that requires a reduced amount of sleep. It requires reduced social connection. It requires constantly being on and working. However, If we look at things seasonally, stuff can’t grow all year. There are busy seasons, but it can’t always be busy season.

I am in a phase of slowing down. I am choosing to be very relaxed in the things that I choose to do. I don’t want to rush from one thing to the next. If I show up late, it is what it is. I am even moving away from hurried language like:

• I need to hurry up and call this person 

• Let me do this real quick

• Let me ask you something real quick

• I’ll do that in just a second

I am moving toward what feels restorative. I love taking baths. Taking baths instead of showering, to me, is a perfect example of slowing down. I don’t know who invented showers, but they just feel like such a quick, expedient way to wash our bodies. There’s something about taking a bath that just makes us take our time. We don’t want to fill the tub with all that water just to rush through it. I’ve even been creating my own bath salts. I go to the grocery store and get some epsom salts and put my own essential oils in there. I add peppermint and lavender, get in the bath and just luxuriate. I give myself 25 whole minutes to wash my body instead of just 5. 

Some other ways slowing down is showing up for me are:

• Taking on more easeful work projects and less work projects on the whole 

• Spending more time with friends who fill me up

• Having joyful conversations

• Sitting outside on the porch

• Making sure I’m drinking enough water throughout the day

• Watching my tea brew

• Drinking my tea while it’s still hot

• Watching plants grow

• Really watching my shows

When I do these things, I may not be changing the world, but I am changing myself. I feel a little more relaxed. I have some good laughs. I may even have something to reflect on. 

I want us to know that we don’t have to retire to move at a slower pace. That doesn’t mean move at no pace at all. There are things we need to do, but we can prioritize our activities. Everything doesn’t carry the same level of urgency. We each have to choose and know our enough point. Sometimes we get caught up acquiring more and more and more, and we have to stop and ask ourselves, what will be enough? When can we slow down and enter a more easeful existence?

It is a choice to live presently in your life. As you are hurrying from one thing to the next, time will pass and you will miss out on living. We have to choose to pay more attention to our being and existence. 

Journal Prompt

What does slowing down look like for you?

A Few Things That Caught My Attention This Week

New episode of You Need To Hear This: Live a Full and Joyous Life w/Gammy Norris

• Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, by Katherine May. You can find this book on Amazon and Bookshop.a

• Why Self-Love is Making Us Lonely, by Maytal Eyal in TIME. 

• America’s Fever of Workaholism Is Finally Breaking, by Derek Thompson in The Atlantic.

• How Fixing Notifications Changed My Relationship With My Phone, by Nicole Nguyen in the Wall Street Journal.