In Praise of Slow
My son has wanted a cat at home for as long as I can remember. We resisted for many, many years. Until one day in early 2018 when we adopted a sweet little kitten we named Bacon. Since then, Bacon has been to most states in the USA with us. She’s lived in an Airstream, on a boat, and most recently in a little cabin in Maine with us.
We love her.
When she was little, she spent all day every day trying to escape to the outdoors to catch squirrels. She’s run away in Washington, Arizona, and many, many times in Maine. Thankfully, we’ve always found her. Now that she’s a little older, she spends most of her time sleeping at the foot of someone’s bed, in a chair on top of a fluffy blanket, or on someone’s lap.
Her favorite place is on a good lap.
That person’s lap is pretty much never mine. (We usually get our cuddles in the kitchen by the treat cabinet.) But last week, with my husband out of town and our boys at work during the day, something amazing happened — Bacon sat on my lap on the porch and we watched the hummingbirds together.
Immediately, I felt my heart rate slow and my to-do list fall out of focus. And quite suddenly I remembered something I had seen online earlier in the day — a short poem that had made me stop and think about the pace of my life.
A poem that had made me feel I’ve been missing something.
It was this ⤵
I’d reposted the poem on my Instagram stories earlier that day and found a note from one of my book-loving friends in response saying she loved it so much. Seeing that friend’s message reminded me of a book she recommended a long time ago, In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed by Carl Honore. It was a book I thought I didn’t have time for.
I remember when my friend suggested this book. It wasn’t that I didn’t have time to read it. I had avoided the book because I’d been afraid reading it would raise my awareness of something I needed to know and therefore slow me down too much when slowing down was something I couldn’t afford to do. (I don’t have to tell you why I thought that ~ you get it.)
But suddenly, with Bacon on my lap watching the hummingbirds, I realized it was time to slow down.
At least a little. At least to find out what I’d been missing by not slowing down. So I listened to the audiobook sample, bought the book then and there, and have been loving it ever since.
Later that night, with just one chapter of the book under my belt, I found myself sitting on my teenager’s bed for an hour listening to him talk about all kinds of things and nothing at all, watching my sons joke around with each other, chilling with my family with no agenda at all — just being — something I’ve been missing for a long time now. Who knows what else is in store the more I listen?
Carl Honore wrote In Praise of Slowness almost 20 years ago to chronicle his own experience with choosing a more intentional approach to life and to encourage the rest of us to do the same.
In it, he talks about the slow movement, a cultural phenomenon that’s been going on since the 80s, perhaps the cultural phenomenon that has given rise to countless parents, professionals, and personal growth writers like myself intentionally taking time away from corporate hustle culture to spend time reading books, enjoying meals with our families, and investing in quality over quantity in all areas of life.
I’m in.
It will likely take me a while to get through the entire book. (There’s lots of scientific talk, so I’ll take breaks.) But I’ve committed to myself and my family that I’m going to use this book to learn how to slow down even more than I know how right now.
I want to be intentional. Even more intentional than I already am. I want to spend time on what really matters. More than I already do. I’m all in. So expect more on this in the coming weeks. And if you want to join me and chat about how it’s coming along, let me know. (I love hearing from you!)
💛
Celeste (& Bacon)
P.S. A little news about the fall Well + Wander Retreat ~ it’s on and we have 2 rooms left! If you’re interested, you can book a spot here, check out the FAQs, or send me your questions. I’d love to see you there!