Life is travelling too fast for a lot of us, and our kids are feeling it. Gone are the days when Aunty Jenny would drop in unannounced for a cuppa tea and a chat (…and she wasn’t even my real aunt, she was one of my mother’s friends from down the road).
And because people did that amazing, spontaneous thing back then, like pop in unannounced, the house was usually in a pretty good-looking state, and in anticipation, there was a cake always baked, or the cupboard was laden with nice things to be shared. I miss that. Do you?
After witnessing a nasty road rage incident with my kids after school this week, along with other horrified onlookers, I saw the words ‘slow is fast’ and took note. I thought, Perhaps a lot of us, including the aggro drivers belting each other in the middle of traffic, would benefit from a cuppa tea with Aunt Sally.
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Slowing down and taking the tortoise’s approach to the daily race, rather than the hare’s, is surely the faster route to peace and happiness. I mean, does it really matter if we don’t make the green light or even the amber light? If life is the game you want to win, then slowing down may be exactly what’s required.
Happiness doesn’t come from keeping stifling schedules that cause your chest and throat to tighten. It doesn’t even come from achieving all the accolades in the world. It comes from breathing deeply, looking up at the sky, and being present to ourselves and others.
It also comes from allowing for a bit of spontaneity to seep into your day. The smaller things; the connections with people and nature, the little surprises, and adventures, unplanned for, add up, and often, it is from these that we receive our inspiration.
Going slower can inspire our creativity and help us to arrive at our more ambitious destinations, in far better health, with greater clarity and a sense of happiness than we would do by rushing about, in breathless anxiety, to get somewhere.
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What’s up this weekend?
Thank God it’s Friday! The plan this weekend is to have no fixed plan but to go slow. I want to sit in the garden with a cup of tea and watch the birds. As it will be Easter next week, I may pot a few plants to make the backyard look prettier in time for the chocolate egg hunt.
Though it’s autumn here in Perth, it’s been really hot and the back garden is looking tired and worn. So, some water, feed, and love will be coming to it. I hope you have the chance to go slow this weekend, and time for the smaller things.
Here are a few things I want to share with you:
- Director Phil Borges talks about exploring new interpretations of what Western society calls ‘crazy’ in the upcoming documentary Crazywise: Rethinking Madness.
- An interesting talk was given to healthcare providers by a panel of psychiatrists in support of the validity of near-death experiences.
- A touching animation by Marsha Onderstijn: The Life of Death is about the day Death fell in love with Life.
- Ben and Jerry’s unveils a new line of vegan ice creams.
- How many universes are there? Chris Anderson explores the mind-blowing scale of reality.
- Should every weekend be a three-day weekend? There are studies to suggest you’d be healthier and better at your job if it was.
- How to choose the best way to memorialise your pet.
- Something good can come from pain and struggle. How an anorexia survivor came to perceive the circumstances of her life in a new way.
Enjoy!
Linda x
