My Slow Living Journey – Pandemic Edition

Reflection on slowness amid covid-19 pandemic

Kayte Ferris explains it very well here: “Slow living is just living slowly, in whatever and however way that means to you. It’s about knowing and passionately loving the things we value, and designing our lives to spend the most time possible enjoying them. It’s about having intentionality and consciousness in our activities, about escaping the mindless scrolling and unproductive multitasking and focusing on purposeful action. It’s about embracing the fact that you’re not doing it all – it’s about doing less, but better.” Her description here is hitting the nail hard and I couldn’t agree more.

This pandemic is devastating for my wallet (job loss and all), but I learned a lot more about myself during this time. Four Months of mandatory and self-imposed quarantine later, I realized even though I tried my best chasing this slow journey, the usual daily life (before COVID-19) was still too overwhelming. It’s easier to live slowly during this pandemic because we are forced to, but how do I maintain some semblance of slowness after the world is back to a (new) normalcy? After thoughtfully reflecting on it, here are five things that I’d like to pay more attention to in my future journey:

Finding your (my) priority in work

In my work, I would like to ask myself more: How can I make my work better? What do I need to focus on today? I found it’s very easy to be overwhelmed and multitask at work, however, I realized trying to do as many things as I can in a day is counterproductive. Instead, my aim is focusing on one or two things that I’d like to accomplish well during the day, and doing it with a sense of calmness (not mindless and rushed, without busting the deadline).

Be more conscious and mindful in everything

Life is happening right now, be here. Why do I buy stuff? Where does my food come from? Who made my clothes? Are they paid fairly, if not, how can I help them? These are questions that I try to ask myself before deciding to consume anything. The big corporations won’t care as they are squeezing pennies for the sake of economy, but what can I do as a consumer to make it better? Maybe I can upcycle clothes instead of buying fast fashion, learn how to make clothes, buy from local businesses: farmers, designers, tailors, you name it. My food doesn’t have to be imported from far away.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t support the economy, buy that blue cheese you have been craving for or make everything yourself. Lord knows when we work a day job, we don’t have all the time in the world to prepare everything ourselves. What I’m saying is that there is a better way to do it and it starts from how you make your decisions daily. Everything in moderation, this phrase right here sums them all

Create more

Make time daily to do what makes me happy. Learn how to make a simple crochet project, do meal prep for the week, start a blog that I have been delaying forever, do gardening.

Have space for yourself (myself)

Spend alone time fruitfully. I’m a chronic planner and a control freak. 2020 is a nightmare, it left me without a direction, a job, and challenge my relationships. But I learned to allow my feelings to be, I don’t have to be always happy and know what I’m doing or have a plan all the time. The universe is teaching me to let go of the things I can’t control and focus on what I can control instead. I learned to spend time with myself, find joy in the mundane, take more quiet walks, and just be. This allows me to redefine what matters.

If you’re on the journey to live slow, I’d love it if you could share your tips and experiences in the comments. What is slow living to you and how are you trying to achieve it?

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