Yearning for Slow

My life is becoming increasingly busy with the delight of lots of little grandchildren, and I find myself reflecting on the same sort of things I did when I was a busy mother os six. So I thought I'd share with you something I've been thinking about as the year charges ahead and we move into autumn already (where have the first few months gone??)

Twilight is one of my favourite times to have a spa. Last night I had one all by myself and enjoyed the luxury of sitting in absolute quiet listening to the birds settling down for the night. And I thought about how a friend had talked with me earlier this week about the longing she feels for a slowing down of her life. How she yearns for it. We talked about the many demands life makes on us, and how precious many of these ‘demands’ are. For busy mamas of young children, yearning for slow or quiet may seem totally unachievable. Even when we’re retired, many of us have full, busy and sometimes frantic days. But I think the key is realizing we can’t slow everything down. If we try to do that, we’ll quickly become frustrated and upset.

 What we need to do is set aside a few snippets of time throughout the busy day to relish a moment of slow. (It helps to name it and recognise it). Perhaps it’s having a quiet cup of tea in the garden (having a cup of tea or coffee may be a ritual we do anyway, but so often we do it in a rushed way. Instead, remind yourself that this is a moment of slow and enjoy it); try to start preparing dinner earlier than usual and enjoy the process of making a nourishing meal for the family; take a walk outside; sit under a tree for five minutes and listen to nature – there are so many simple things we can do to help slow down our lives.

We need to let our hearts and minds slow down and enjoy however many minutes of intentional slow we can find. If we do that, the average pace of the day will also slow down. And when we look back on the day, we won’t just see a blur of noise and activity—we’ll remember those special moments also. Even a few moments of slow will help fulfill in some measure the yearning we feel.

I hope you can find some of these precious moments in your busy life and taste of their goodness.

Love and blessings,

Rosie