The gift of a slow living lifestyle

Last night I made a professional decision that many freelance writers would consider unwise. I canceled my Twitter account….and my Facebook writing account.

This is considered borderline insanity in the creative world. Who in their right mind would let go of FOLLOWERS???

Me.

For years I’ve embraced a concept that recently became known as simple living, or slow living. There is a compulsion in modern times that we must go fast, faster, until we spin all of the plates off our hands and they crash down around us.

Then we can feel accomplished.

As if busy and overdone is where we find our value and can finally, finally celebrate enough. We don’t have to buy into that, you know.

We can even reject that concept and choose to live quietly. Calmly. Slowly.

The art of slow living

There is no award for the busiest, although we are often fooled into believing that there is! We greet each other with a “how are you?” and what do we often hear back?

“Oh, I am sooooo busy.”

Can I be really honest here? That sometimes makes me sad, like deeply uneasy. It isn’t that we don’t have full lives, or seasons that hold more chores/meetings/tasks/children etc.

We do! I do too! That isn’t what bothers me…

It is the weariness I see in the efforts to keep up. The hesitancy I hear in voices to admit a longing for less. Less commitment, less pursuit, less competition.

We aren’t afraid of challenge, or hard work! However, we do not want, nor need to always be the one known as busy.

So busy we can’t call our friends back, host a family in need of a simple dinner, or even attend events designed to restore our spirits.

“The more you have, the more you are occupied, the less you give. But the less you have the more free you are.” — Mother Teresa

How do I live a slow life?

Let’s fight back against being busy with the things that matter less.

Our life happens in the small moments, as well as the big ones. We don’t want to miss those glimpses into the quiet. To see our work in progress…our family joys…our needs.

In my professional pursuits, that means giving up a few social media accounts. Rethinking where I want to invest my writing time.

It means going against the flow, totally, and giving up some followers. Likes, Shares. Oh my.

Those things are really appreciated, helpful even, but I don’t write to be the most popular. I want to make a difference. Some would argue that growing platforms is necessary to do that, and it might be.

Not for me, not anymore. If people want to “follow” me, let it be because they believe in my message.

What does slow living look like?

Did you know that most writers spend crazy amounts of time, vastly more than writing, on doing what they like least?

Crafting 140 letters of carefully chosen characters, organizing tons of social media posts, creating dynamic headlines, engaging in behind-the-scenes stuff that drains the joy from their work?

That is what most books and courses and successful professionals teach. That these are necessary. The path.

Furthermore, did you know that most of them, like me, truly just want community…not fame?

Influence…because of the power of the message, not because of following a “how-to-be successful” framework? There is little time left for the reason we started writing in the first place!

Slow living for a writer

Writers get weary of being so vulnerable in our work and having it reduced to such things. There is no guarantee of success, and the mark always moves as technology changes. People are my business, not striving.

“It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?” ― Henry David Thoreau

I am taking a risk and letting go of some extras to find the extraordinary. As a reader, I truly HOPE you will stay with me. With or without the extra social media platforms.

You can still find me on Pinterest here, or Instagram here. Two, that’s it. And the blog.

A happy, calm life is more than okay for me these days. I’ve learned the hard way that more of anything isn’t always better. Perhaps you have too…