Slow Living Isn’t Always Easy Living
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In a world that moves faster with every passing day, the concept of slow living has become increasingly appealing. It's romanticized in social media reels of morning routines with hand-ground coffee, homemade bread rising on a counter, and a wardrobe of carefully curated linen dresses. But slow living isn’t synonymous with homesteading or traditional domestic roles (sometimes labeled “trad wives”). Nor is it about achieving an aesthetic ideal. Slow living is about being intentional with your time, energy, and resources. And let’s be real—it’s not always easy, especially when juggling a full-time job, family responsibilities, or the demands of modern life.
What Is Slow Living?
At its core, slow living is about pausing in a fast-paced world to intentionally savor life. It’s the practice of living in alignment with your values and focusing on what truly brings joy and fulfillment. For some, this might look like growing their own food or sewing their clothes. For others, it might be as simple as taking a moment to breathe deeply between Zoom meetings or spending a Saturday reorganizing their space to reflect a sense of calm and order.
The challenge of slow living is finding ways to integrate it into the reality of modern life, where the workweek often stretches beyond 40 hours and free time feels fleeting.
Mindful Spending
One pillar of slow living is financial intentionality. This doesn’t mean cutting yourself off from every luxury but rather thinking carefully about how and why you spend.
Low or No-Spend Challenges: Commit to a month of buying only necessities, like groceries or gas, and see how it transforms your perspective. Use the time and money saved to reflect on what truly brings joy into your life.
Using What You Have: That pantry you keep meaning to organize? Or the forgotten art supplies collecting dust? Slow living encourages us to rediscover and use what we already own instead of constantly acquiring more.
But intentionality doesn’t mean never buying something new. Sometimes, investing in a well-made item that truly aligns with your needs or values is the best choice. For instance, if you’ve been considering something linked here from one of my affiliate recommendations, know that mindful purchases—ones that improve your life or reduce waste in the long run—can absolutely fit within the ethos of slow living. Just take a moment to ask yourself, Does this support the life I’m trying to build?
Mindful spending isn’t just about saving money—it’s about reducing the mental clutter that comes with overconsumption and ensuring your purchases add true value to your life.
If you are looking for some inspiration for simplifying and living with more intention The Year of Less by Cait Flanders is a great listen while cleaning, exercising or relaxing.
Taking Care of What You Own
Slow living thrives on the principle of care—caring for your belongings, your surroundings, and yourself. Instead of rushing out to replace broken items, invest time in repairing them. Tend to your home regularly, not as a chore but as an act of love for your space. Polishing a wood table, folding your clothes with care, or even cleaning your car can feel like meditative acts when done with intention.
This principle extends beyond the physical into the realm of health and spirit. Slow living asks you to tend to yourself—whether it’s through nourishing meals, time outside, meditation, or quiet reflection.
Reclaiming Fun Without Spending
The “slow” in slow living also applies to how we entertain ourselves. In a culture that often equates fun with shopping sprees, dining out, or expensive vacations, it can feel counterintuitive to prioritize free or low-cost activities.
Spend an afternoon hiking a local trail, reading a book from the library, or baking something from scratch.
Rediscover hobbies that don’t require frequent purchases—gardening, journaling, knitting, or painting.
Plan intentional time with friends, like potluck dinners or board game nights, where connection takes center stage over consumption.
The beauty of these activities is that they cultivate fulfillment without adding financial or mental clutter.
Slowing Down to Speed Up Fulfillment
It’s easy to mistake slow living for simplicity or laziness, but this lifestyle is often anything but. It takes effort to slow down in a culture that prioritizes productivity and instant gratification. It takes time to reflect on what truly matters and to live in a way that aligns with your values.
Slow living isn’t about being idle; it’s about creating a life you don’t feel the need to escape from. A life where you feel joy in the little things—a tidy corner of your home, a well-loved pair of shoes, the quiet moments you carve out for yourself.
The Reason for Slowing Down
Ultimately, slow living isn’t the goal itself—it’s a means to an end. The reason we slow down isn’t just to move more slowly but to create a life we love. It’s about feeling fulfilled, aligned, and connected to what matters most.
So yes, slow living isn’t always easy. But the rewards—inner peace, a stronger sense of purpose, and more room for joy—make the effort worthwhile.
What small step can you take today to begin slowing down? Maybe it’s a five-minute pause, a deep breath, or a commitment to repair instead of replace. Whatever it is, know that slow living is a practice, not a destination. One mindful moment at a time, you can create a life you love.
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Lessons From The Garden
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They say that necessity is the mother of invention. It is also the mother of motivation at my house, currently. Several projects I’ve been putting off are now somewhat urgent. One of them is tending to my upper garden, which sits at the top a small hill behind my house.
At one time the space held a mix of vegetable gardens and perennials. There were peonies, lilacs, irises, rhubarb and even a small mistletoe plant. The previous owners had let the garden go to seed a few years before I took it over in 2013. Ever since I’ve just been trying to keep the area from being entirely consumed by bittersweet (aka my mortal enemy) and a mysterious groundcover.
For the first 5-6 years I lived here I vowed I would clean up the upper garden and do some serious landscaping to make it more accessible and enjoyable. But there never seemed be enough time. Weekends and evenings were spent at school events, sporting events or shuttling my kids hither and thither. And so I eventually gave up the ghost of a lovely little garden tucked away on the hill. Instead I focused on easier-to-maintain areas around my house.
This year though, I’m finally going to do some proper landscaping and get the space ready for planting. But before I can start adding in more flowers and vegetables, I have to prune, pull and remove all the excessive vines, weeds and trees. I likely won’t even begin planting anything new until next year. I started working on cutting back the garden this past weekend. As I was hacking away at giant bittersweet vines, I was kicking myself for not doing this years ago. Why had I let it get so wild? Why hadn’t I been more diligent about the upkeep? Cutting away all the overgrowth felt like I was giving someone a very short and very bad haircut. It was one of those it’s-going-to-get-worse-before-it-gets-better situations.
Even though I love the wild and unkept beauty of this space, I risk losing it all together if I don’t take serious action now. So while it pains me to cut everything down to the dirt and have to cut down several trees (which are leaning precipitously close to my house) I know that the end result will be a much healthier, and even more beautiful, corner of the world. Moving forward I want to start using a Garden Journal & Planner, similar to this one.
When I first started working on this space it was overwhelming and I wanted to quit right away. So in my head I marked off a small area to focus on. I just had to clear this one area, and I could be done for the day. That one area took me four hours to clean up, but I was so happy at the end of it. And much more motivated to continue the work. It was a good reminder that small actions can have big impact.
Do you have any lessons you’ve learned from your gardens or nature?
Some of Gardening Books You May Enjoy*
The Green Witch by Arin Murphy-Hiscock
A Green Witch’s Guide to Herbal Medicine by Sage Willowbrook
Growing Fruits & Vegetables for Dummies - This book was super helpful when I first started out gardening
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Does Manifesting Really Work?
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I was cleaning out my home office not too long ago and came across a Life Binder I started back in 2012. In it were notes and lists written in my Law of Attraction heyday. I had snippets from magazines glued to copy paper, representing my Be, Do, Have desires. There were images of white farmhouses and rose gardens, yellow kitchens and smart business casual outfits. There was the ubiquitous Check from the Universe, made out to myself (obviously), for an amount representing the salary I wanted that year. I had a lists of desires written in the present tense. I am so happy and grateful that…. There were gratitude lists galore.
I found different versions of my Be Do Have lists from 2012, 2014 and 2017 - each one with new items and wants.
Reading through these lists was fun. I checked off many of the items. I bought a house, got my masters degree, raised my kids, increased my income, started a successful blog. Did I manifest these? Maybe. But I also took a LOT of action to bring these desires into reality. But…..I definitely think that for some events in my life, there was some divine intervention. How I bought my house is a prime example. After my divorce I had to go back to renting and I thought I would never own a house again. But somehow I was approved for a mortgage, found a home in my price range that was big enough for my family and close to schools and my work. Everything seemed to fall magically into place at just the right time. Side note - this was 2013, when the housing market was still stable. Did I manifest this house? Maybe. Maybe not. But I’ve always felt like someone was looking out for me, to find what literally felt like the perfect place to call home.
Some of the items on my Be Do Have lists I no longer wanted. In fact, I’m really happy I didn’t get them. This includes jobs, relationships, a questionable chevron inspired rug for my living room. Did I not get these things because I wasn’t high vibe enough? Or because the Universe knew better? Or was it just bad luck/ good luck?
I’ve been off any kind of LOA/Manifesting for a few years now. I don’t know if it was because of the pandemic or I just got tired of trying to be positive so much of the time. A major flaw with LOA for me, is that it kept me in my head too much. I was always policing my thoughts and was constantly trying to find silver linings, when sometimes, it was just a pile of sh!t.
During COVID-19, out of curiosity, I did deep dives into the history of some of the most popular LOA figures - Abraham Hicks, Neville Goddard, Rhonda Byrnes, the hippy guy from The Secret. What I found wasn’t great. There are lots of articles and information about some shady past dealings with each of them. Is it all true? Maybe. Maybe not. Either way it was enough to put me off any thoughts of LOA until recently.
In her book, The Age of Magical Thinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, author and podcast host Amanda Montell delves into the ideas behind concepts like manifesting, debunking the idea that thoughts become things and that we can control anything by just focusing on it. On a logical level I understood what Montell was saying. We are programmed with cognitive biases and to imbue meaning into even the most mundane parts of our life. Coincidences become signs from a higher power. Bad luck is attributed to bad karma in a past life. Seeing certain numbesr is a message from angels. Listening to this book (I bought it on Audible) thoroughly debunk any kind of magickal thinking left me feeling a little sad. I mean, there has to be some magic in life, right?
Yes, humans are designed to make meaning out of pretty much anything, but I refuse to believe that there is NO higher power guiding us in some way. Perhaps it is a God or Goddess, or maybe our ancestors. I like to think that nature is my guide, because being outside brings me peace and clarity. Is this because I am allowing myself to slow down and be present enough to feel to my feelings? Or is it the essence of Gaia guiding me with soft winds and passing clouds? Maybe it’s a little bit of both.
I’ve picked up my Be Do Have lists again. This time feeling a little more grounded and wise about what I really want in life. My list in 2024 includes peace, joy, health and stability. And maybe a new rug for my living room.