Living simply and slowly isn’t a matter of doing; it is a matter of being. Do: walk, pray, laugh, feel. Be: humble and quiet and intentional and grateful. Living simply comes from within; once you are quiet and humbled, intentional and honest, then walking, praying, laughing and feeling will only come naturally. Simplify by stripping your life to ‘essentials’ — eating, drinking, praying, loving, learning, then, if you deeply feel and enjoy each moment, life will unravel beautifully and simply.
Slow living is being intentional in what you do — choosing to do what matters, and cutting out the rest. Stop worrying about tomorrow: now counts.
Let’s Enjoy Life More
As a child, slower days have meant summer afternoons at my grandparents farm by the stream and picking raspberries in the heat. Late in the day, when the sky is crimson and lavender dusk falls, we enjoy laughter and stories shared around a campfire with friends. Enjoying meaningful moments with friends and family, reconnecting with hobbies, nature and God: these are a few things I love most about choosing a slower life for our family.
Abby’s Slow Life Tips
Recently, I had the privilege to ask Abby some questions about slow living. Not only is she a university professor who teaches slow living courses, but also she is a mother and wife and beautifully practices slow living within her family home. We crossed paths on a Slow Living online group, and I asked if she would be happy to share some of her favourite ways to practice slow living with a kids. Abby shares:
We consciously live slowly with three kids. Here are some things that guide us:
1. No more than one structured extracurricular per child at a time.
2. We live rurally and go to town once a week for errands. The kids know this and plan accordingly.
3. We host friends often, but always simply and at home. Example—last night all three had friends over for dinner—roasted hotdogs on a bonfire, s’mores, simple charcuterie board.
4. Let them be bored. I cannot stress this enough. I didn’t do this with my oldest but have with my youngest and it’s a life changing thing. My youngest is so imaginative. Our backyard is his favorite place. He builds terrariums, chops wood, makes nature art—and is so happy to do it.
5. Create and cultivate simple pleasures. We stargaze from our deck with hot chocolate weekly, for example. We cook outdoors every weekend. These are adventures for our kids, but these things are also incredibly simple and mostly free.
6. We hold a pretty sacred space for weekend brunch at home. I’ll make a big spread and set it out on our island and the kids meander in and out all morning grazing. Something about having a spread of food out seems to ease everyone into a state of comfort and stillness.
7. We’re an early-to-bed family, and that’s part of our slow living. Everyone (even the 17 year old) retire to our rooms around 8:30-9:00 during the week. We don’t necessarily sleep, but we unplug and spend time in quiet. My kids read, color, craft. My husband and I sit on our back deck and watch the sunset, basically every single night.
8. We clean the kitchen by candlelight. I often make meals by candlelight as well. I cook slowly and from scratch as often as possible. I work part of the year, so during that season it’s not as often, but when I’m off and on the weekends slow cooking is a big part of our life.
9. We get outside everyday.
10. The biggest thing related to kids is this: make simple things feel special to them from the beginning. When they can find wonder and happiness and joy in simplicity it becomes easy. My oldest child asked to stop participating in travel sports because he found it took away from time spent in nature, and in our family the nature time was what was celebrated the most and prioritized. We did this in lots of small ways—regular bonfires and nature walks, imagination and improv games in the backyard, s’mores nights, family board game tournaments. Kids translate time into love. If you want them to love simplicity, put your time there—in simple things. For us, that is Scrabble, our backyard, our dogs, hiking, etc. When that’s what’s celebrated in the family, that’s what they come to value for themselves.
Thank you Abby for sharing; I hope these ideas inspire and encourage you to live slowly, too!
Similar posts you may enjoy:
9 Steps to a Slow Living Lifestyle
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