Wind and Bone

I recently discovered a concept which is not new.  Which makes me late to the party, or more accurately late to hear about a party to which I may or may not have been invited – the jury is still out.

Have you heard of minimalism?  Well this isn’t it.  Not exactly.  There’s definitely a component of de-owning and decluttering, but it’s more than just STUFF or the absence thereof.  It’s called SLOW LIVING.  And perhaps because of the never-ending activity of our lives, when I stumbled across a review of  Brooke McAlary’s book “Slow” I was drawn to the idea and spent a few hours over the next week listening to her discuss the concept of “simple living for a frantic world” on her podcast.  Now, I’m not a huge podcast person.  Mostly I find them fake and annoying – sorry to those I have now grievously offended – and to be honest, there were episodes that I skipped and skimmed for just that reason. But amid the amusing banter between Brooke and her husband (who are both Aussies and therefore automatically have a pass because I can listen to that accent forever), there were some really great gems.  Or rather, they got me thinking.

What is SLOW LIVING? Erin Loechner describes it as “a duality of caring more and caring less – that is, working out what’s worth caring more about, and letting go of the things that aren’t.” And while the idea means different things to different people, I feel like there is some real wisdom in there… I so often have good intentions and then that squirrel of distraction shows up and I’m all over the place – wanting more and less at the same time. But habits are hard to break, and change is, well, slow.

So how does this work?  How do I begin? One of the first questions I have to ask myself is how does this idea of living slow fit with my Christian faith? Or more accurately, does it fit at all? Does it make sense? If I’m not “doing it all”, does that mean I’m not tapping in to the Spirit for strength? I’m still wrestling with these and other questions, and I’m aware that I (and likely everyone else out there) have a tendency to make my faith fit with my desires and not the other way around. So I’m taking this SLOWLY.  I guess ultimately if the goal is to hone in my focus on the important things, then it’s probably a good direction – possibly even a narrow road.

Next  up – preparation.  I think I need to map out a plan…