The Great Slow Down - Jane's Mindful Musings

It is time for a Mindful Musings takeover and I am so thrilled that Sole Sister Erin Williams agreed to write this beautiful, personal, and insightful post titled The Great Slow Down. I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

I am in love with this time of year and I do have my reasons. As an “A-type” busy, middle-aged woman I have a tendency to drink my cup of morning coffee and then do ALL the things. In my Croning wisdom, I have learned to drink just my one cup of coffee because I find that if I drink more than that I will do ALL my things and quite a number of other people’s things too and I’m over that.

Like many of us in the full bloom of life, I have a lot on the go. Single parenting a pre-teen, three grown kids, two grandkids and another on the way, a career, a side hustle or two, a couple of dogs, numerous cats, sixteen laying chickens, one rooster, two geese with five more arriving today, a garden, a few hobbies… I think most of us here can recognize this life.

Sometimes it can become a little overwhelming and the need to slow down can be like a blinking traffic signal that we don’t quite pay attention to very quickly. It seems when that happens in my life the universe has a way of stopping me, literally in my tracks.

Last month I was running up the stairs to my back door while doing all the things on a full day schedule and… broke my toe. Not the first time I’ve been running to do all of the things and broken a toe. Smart woman, but sometimes a slow learner.

So, a shot of whiskey for the pain (my go-to, non-pharmaceutical painkiller), a good solid taping job, and a couple of days with my foot up, binge-watching Netflix and devouring books, was in order. But during my “downtime,” it gave me pause for thought.

As I was looking at and rearranging my calendar I started prioritizing a few things. Meetings that I didn’t need to attend, noticing how many days I had ambitiously overbooked and how few days had no scheduling at all.

I had made a decent attempt at never booking on Sundays unless absolutely necessary and realized in the busyness of the season I had been lax at honoring that for myself. I lost track of time and was feeling grateful for the reminder.

We did the annual “fall back” with the clocks. The days feel shorter in this dark half of the year after the equinox has passed, and I’m good with that. I think that for me this season is the perfect reminder that we have limited time and how we use it needs to find balance. Slower days with a book by the fire and a cup of tea or glass of wine are calling my name.

My ramblings are closer to home. The water at the beach near my house is luxuriously cold at this time of year. Now deserted of tourists and noisy families I can walk slowly, unobserved into the salty ocean feeling the cold rise up my body in a quiet deep rush that takes me to a still place.

My garden needs tending and putting to bed now… so I can wander around slowly, watching the geese splash in the kiddy pool as I pull up the last of the tomatoes, mulch in the garlic, and plan for next year. The harvest of herbs and stocking up the pantry and freezer have been done. The busy squirrel can rest knowing the acorns are stored for winter.

My circadian rhythm starts to sync with the lack of daylight. I find that removing my bra and tucking into cozy pajamas with socks and slippers early in the evening, or even late in the afternoon is the seasonally new norm. I sleep longer and deeper, especially when the rain is drumming its white noise outside my open window.

The wood stove is back on full-time duty so bone broth is always simmering in a pot on it, and sipping it daily restores me and takes me back in time to when my grandmother brewed broth and spoke of her grandmother’s recipes. 

Slowing down gives me the grace and rest to ambitiously plan for the light half of the year. I am in love with all the seasons… in their time.

Give yourself the time.

READ MORE > Jane's Mindful Musings, Rambler Cafe Blog.