10 Ways to Slow Down and Live More

At the end of 2019 I selected two theme words for 2020. I waited with anticipation for the start of a new decade so I could lean into what I expected to be two powerful choices in my life. I imagined 2020 was going to be a life changing year for me. And boy, was I right.

I think I just heard a virtual Amen!

My theme words for 2020 were/are: love and simplify. For the sake of this article, I’ll focus on the latter. I craved a simpler life. I stopped short of saying I was moving into a minimalist lifestyle, though I was and still am attracted to the simplicity of minimalism. I just knew I no longer relished the frenetic pace and overbooked schedule – the glorification of busyness. I didn’t want to envy people who found peace and calm in idle moments. I wanted to be them. For 2020, I envisioned a year of decluttering – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually; of saying “no” more often, especially when I didn’t really want to say “yes.” I imagined more white space on my calendar, space representing time to think, reflect, and to be. I wanted to slow down and escape the lure of incessant busyness.

I wanted to slow down and live more.

COVID-19 isn’t known for gifts, but it has given one. Especially at the beginning when the virus swept in like a tsunami, everything came to an abrupt halt. With shelter-in-place and social distancing, I found myself spending several weeks in physical isolation. Initially, it wasn’t so bad. After all, I’d always thought how nice it would be to work from home more often. If I wanted more time to myself to think and reflect, I had it. Then a funny thing happened. As the weeks passed and we all grew accustomed to the new normal, the work schedule regained momentum and then somehow surpassed the demands I had when I worked in-person in the office.

How could that be? I think it’s more than my perception because I’ve heard too many others say the same thing. Gone were the slower mornings. In their place were back-to-back videoconference calls spanning across time zones. I found I was an integrator, meaning I integrated my workday and my personal time together to the extent that it was hard to recognize where one stopped and the other started. Instead of gaining more time to decompress, reflect, and be idle, I was overscheduled, overworked, and overwhelmed. And, I was exhausted.

Then in early April, one of my best childhood girlfriends lost her life to cancer. I stopped. I reflected on my memories of her and the importance of spending time with family and friends. Life is precious. I initiated Sunday evening Zoom calls with my Dad, siblings and other family members. We laughed and those times brought a closeness that we had not made space for previously – caught up in the pace of life.

After the death of my friend, I refocused on my 2020 vision board and the theme words I’d committed to before the year started. I was determined to simplify my life. The time between April and July, I gathered up clothing, books, furniture and other belongings to declutter my physical space. I worked with my assistant to regain and protect the white space on my calendar. I took my dog, Marley, for walks during lunch. I recommitted to my 5 o’clock AM wake up and morning routine that included meditation, journaling, morning walks, and sitting for breakfast. I was finally getting a grasp on what it means to me to live a simpler life.

Then in early July, almost three months to the day that my girlfriend passed away, my younger brother died. I stopped again.

In April, I wrote the article, 10 Hugely Practical Aha’s I Wish I’d Learned Sooner. This is what I wrote about death:

More than anything else, it’s death that teaches us to appreciate life.

Memento Mori is a Latin phrase which means “remember death.” The inevitability of death can lead to morbid thoughts and fear or it can inspire an appreciation for life and the determination to live each day to the fullest. It had the latter effect on me when my mother died 37 years ago and most recently when one of my dearest friends died. Tomorrow is not promised. This present moment is all we have. Cherish it and make it count. To love life is to lose the fear of death.

As I process the loss of my brother on this side of life, I’m drawn again to commit to slowing down and living more. Life is precious.

My commitment led to researching the revolutionary movement called the Slow Movement. It is a term coined by Carl Honoré in his book, In Praise of Slow (2004), in which Honoré advocates a cultural shift toward slowing down life’s pace, and includes everything from food, to work, to parenting and more. In his book, slowing down encompasses more than losing the fascination with fast and efficient. It also promotes a life with less volume, intensity and busyness. In an article on Slow Living, authors Beth Meredith and Eric Storm summarize slow living as follows:

Slow Living means structuring your life around meaning and fulfillment. Similar to “voluntary simplicity” and “downshifting,” it emphasizes a less-is-more approach, focusing on the quality of your life. … Slow Living addresses the desire to lead a more balanced life and to pursue a more holistic sense of well-being in the fullest sense of the word. (Wikipedia, Slow Movement (Culture))

This is my journey. Perhaps it’s yours too. There are so many elements of Slow Living that align with Your Aha! Life. I was on to something when I chose the theme word simplify for 2020. I didn’t know what lay ahead, but in the midst of a pandemic and the deaths of two dear souls, I’m finding solace in slowing down and living more.

Here are 10 Ways You Can Slow Down and Live More: