These Days We're Taking It Slow
For some of us, the world feels like it has come to a stop. We’re at a standstill just waiting to see what life on the other side of a global pandemic will feel like. Will things return to normal, or will a new normal take its place, forcing us to adapt and change — for the second time in 2020? It felt like a great question to address inside Illuminate, our writing community. We asked our Illuminate members to write on the topic of “slowing down” and below you’ll find a roundup of their take on the topic. We hope you’ll visit each post and maybe even meet your new favorite writer.
Being in the Moment by Mia Sutton
My husband is in the kitchen on a Zoom call for work. My kids are in their rooms with their devices. My dog is asleep. But what am I doing? Worrying. Thinking. Making mental lists that keep getting longer and longer. Worrying constantly about the future; what if, what if, WHAT IF?
Being in the moment is hard for me. It's hard to quiet my mind. It's hard not to worry about ALL. THE. THINGS.
Slowing Down by Jacey
I am trying to slow down. To sit with my ideas and find the right words. Writing is hard enough without blowing past my ideas in order to meet an imaginary quota of words published. My goal is always to fill up notebooks, even if most of those words never see the light of day. It is sitting in front of my computer, writing and deleting and changing the words in front of me where I struggle most. Posting prematurely, though, is adding an ache to my writing life. I can feel it getting tighter, sorer.
Time Is Irrelevant Right Now by Eunice Brownlee
I wish I could press pause right now, I really do. That might seem crazy when the whole world seems to be on a collective pause, thanks to this crazy virus and our even crazier government that can’t seem to get a handle on it.
But life hasn’t slowed down for me since COVID came crashing into our lives. Very much the opposite, in fact. While I am unbelievably grateful to continue to have a steady income, I really wish that I could lighten my load, just a bit. I have so much going on that I don’t know what day of the week it is most days. And the serial entrepreneur in me just keeps throwing irons into the fire left and right.
On Chasing Slow by Sarah Hartley
The lockdowns started on my 37th birthday. We had plans to go to dinner with friends to celebrate and suddenly the world had shut down. It felt overwhelmingly fast to go from normal life to this new life that has no end date.
Suddenly we were thrust into a world where small businesses were being forced to close left and right, where working moms were given the task of homeschooling, where we had to worry every single time we went in public.
There has been no slow down in this global shutdown. If anything, things seem to have picked up their pace as we’ve tried to fit all of the pieces of our puzzle together in a way that makes sense.
It’s Time to Slow Down by Mala Kennedy
I’ve always enjoyed the slow life. Taking time to connect to me because it felt so nourishing. Then covid happened and while the world slowed down I found myself being propelled into being busy. My focus is on my business and serving because I see the need to support women right now. I have also noticed myself craving stillness and realising the need for both. Being busy in business doesn’t mean I have to rush and lose my centre of gravity in the process.
I can still stay grounded.
During the lockdown, I was curious about how we would re-enter the world. Would we ease back into life and acknowledge the opportunity our slowness has given mama earth? Would we acknowledge what it has done for us too?
A Way to Practice the Pause: Grounding Exercise by Amy Rich
I do not know about the rest of you, but I have been feeling trapped. Not because of the pandemic, but because of rain. It has rained for what feels like a week straight here in Michigan. I have not been able to take walks as long as I would like. I rearranged my entire office at work so I could maximize the sunlight, and it has been cloudy and full of rain. I love the rain. Storms are my favorite. They help me nap and they soothe me during the worst of my panic attacks. Sunday, however, I had finally had enough. I grabbed my daughter, a picnic blanket, and an umbrella and drove to the park.
On the Front Porch, Looking In by Liz Russell
If I were going to write another poem, it would be about a rocking chair. But my brain is stuck on prose, so this will have to do.
The choice to buy a rocking chair wasn’t exactly an obvious one. I’m not 70, I don’t have a baby to lull to sleep, and I get so motion sick that the tiniest lilt of a dock or the light sway of a hammock can feel like an epic roller coaster ride. The idea of rocking on purpose seemed entirely disagreeable. But when your large front porch feels like the only empty one on the block and you spot a $10 chair on Facebook, you buy it - rock or not.
Can a Busybee Slow Down? by Ashleigh Bowling
When’s the last time you did ONE thing at a time? I’m talking about watching a movie, and JUST watching the movie. No phone scrolling. No thinking about what you’re going to do after said movie. Just keeping your eyes on the screen and taking it all in. It’s a wild concept honestly.
When I really thought about this, I realized I almost never focus on one thing. Sure, a part of the reason is my anxiety and fast-paced mind, but when really thinking about it, have I ever tried to stop myself from multi-tasking?
Still Spring by Jenn Norrell
In early March when we were still in Arizona it became clearer each day that our travels would need to stop for a while because of Covid-19. It was hard to have our plans of traveling north to a summer spent in Alaska be put on indefinite hold. But it has been a privilege to be forced to slow down in a place we love. It was hard at first, not being able to go explore our favorite places, or someplace new. It still is sometimes, but being here in this season of slow has reminded us of the importance of the simple things we can often forget when we move to fast, when adventure calls, like witnessing the small changes Mother Nature shows us each day if we are willing to slow down and look.
Planning Slowly by Kristin Rouse
Christmas, and not only did he find one I ended up loving, he spent hours customizing it. Surprising myself as much as anyone, I really kept up with it for the first two and a half months of the year—I buckled down and put my planned gym visits, my work schedule, all my appointments, and all the days I’d made reservations at the library for a private study room to do writing and editing work. I used it way more consistently than I expected to, and certainly more consistently than I used the calendar in my phone. As it turned out, I liked being a planner person for January, February, and the first part of March. I liked being so accountable to myself. If life was moving too fast or felt too hectic, at least I knew what I had on tap next.
No one needs a lot of explanation for why I haven’t been using my planner nearly as much since the middle of March, I’m sure.
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