Saturday, January 25, 2014

Slowing Down

I having been doing Morrea Seal's "52 Lists Project", which I have found to be very inspiring. 

Here is my page for week two, "Things that comfort me":
 Once I got in the groove of it, they just kept coming out.  I love it when that happens! 

I have also been going through Diana Trout's book, "Journal Spilling". Which is a really great book so far! 

This page was done for the first chapter on trusting the process:


 And this one was for the section on not caring what the end product looks like. Which was a fun exercise!


 This one is just a regular art journal page, but it is a bit different from my usual style and I quite enjoy it!



Lately I have noticed a definite slowing down in my life. 
I have noticed that the hurried and stressed pace I was going about in life was not doing me any favors. 
And now, when I realize that I am walking fast and just focused on getting where I'm going, I slow down. I walk at a steady pace, I pay attention to the act of putting one foot in front of the other, I observe my surroundings. 

Also, last week, I was having some bad days and instead of forcing myself to make art when I just wasn't feeling it, I let myself lounge around and watch Community instead. I drank lots of water and read a lot and went to bed early. And giving myself permission to slow down and have off days felt extremely good. 

Slowing down feels good. 
Why are we in such a rush?
Why are we pushing ourselves and our bodies, stretching ourselves too thin, and still not giving ourselves a break?

When we are going somewhere, whether we rush or walk leisurely to get there, we still get there. 
We are not changing that. 
What we are changing is how we feel until we get to our destination. 
We are sacrificing the present moment, straining and stressing about getting somewhere in the future. 

And obviously, this does not simply apply to walking. Obviously it applies to every aspect of life, but I don't need to elaborate on that.
Right now, for me, it is showing up in my walking. 
I am slowing down, enjoying the feeling of my body in motion, enjoying my surroundings. 

It is a much softer and lighter way to get around and to experience the necessary life of commuting.

Where could you slow down in your life? Where do you deserve to let yourself have a break? 

 Travel lightly, go at a leisurely pace, and appreciate where you are.
Your body and mind will certainly thank you.

4 comments:

  1. I!
    LOVE!
    ROBYN!

    le sigh.

    I want to slow down too! I always love it when I can and promise myself I'll never speed up again. I hate hurry. Hurry is so arrogant I think.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Agreed! Hurry places ourselves and our plans above everything else, which almost always blows up in our face. But we keep doing it!

      Delete
  2. I want that book! There's such a difference, to me at least, working with a notebook versus a single page of paper, I need a note-book that I don't have to take so seriously.

    Living life slowly is maybe easier for me than most, mostly because I can't rush with my condition x) hehe. But it seems even now having been sick for so long I still think I can rush things, so it's always nice to get a reminder.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, you can't take it too seriously! You have to have fun with it!
      Yeah, you mention how your condition slows you down from time to time, just think of it as the Universe wanting you to slow down and appreciate where you are at. Which I can see being hard. But you are a very optimistic person, so that helps! :)

      Delete