My slow living is completely different….I’m slow because I can barely walk. Even a few steps and the pain in my hip can be excruciating. I need a hip replacement, but how long it will take, who knows 🙁.
Such interesting perspectives! I think that slow living actually means spending less in many ways. Less money on clothes because you’re not following trends. Less money on going out because you’re not chasing down the next big event.
I guess it depends on what you mean by 'rich'. My husband and I earn about 3000 pounds a month between us (converted from Australian dollars). We live in a rural area so some things are more expensive, others less so. I don't currently work for physical & mental health reasons, but try to contribute financially by selling stuff on eBay (a side hustle I've had for over a decade) and hopefully one day making my Substack into a source of income. (And, for full transparency, I receive government benefits as a student, but it's not much).
We live 'slowly', even my husband (who has 3 part-time jobs), but we also sacrifice a lot. He drives a car with a bashed-in door. I have a strict budget for the food shop. We live at home with one of my parents, paying two-thirds of their mortgage instead of moving out and buying a houseful of furniture on top of paying rent. We have prepaid phone plans and own everything outright. We sock money away each month and are in a pretty good place financially, but only because we are strict with our finances. So slow living is certainly possible for those on a budget, but you do have to make sacrifices and figure out what's most meaningful to you. For us it's important that I'm home so I can recover from severe burnout and also study for my current qualification, so we make it work.
Also, "certain aspects of slow living, like buying organic flour, are undeniably costly" - I'm currently trying something called Organic September, and I'm discovering how expensive organic is! We have already decided we aren't going to continue buying organic after this month's experiment, because for us it's simply financially unsustainable. We have the money, but it's more important to us right now to be saving for our future than spending it on food, even if it's lovely food.
Perhaps ask a single mother of three living in a highrise in a city what she thinks about “slow living”? Of course, it is only for the rich and privileged. Like having a diet which avoids UPF’s, that girl lifestyle and whatever other cr*p Instagram is churning out to make people feel inadequate and inferior.
Thank you for sharing. I have always felt seasonal living was a reference point to return to when we have a moment. Nature is all around us, even in the cities that we can all take from regardless of monetary circumstances. Nature is not an us/them scenario but it about us and something that connects us all
what a thoughtful roundup. I've embraced slow mornings with my kids because they need that before being rushed out the door. when weather allows, i take my coffee out to the garden, they trod after me, forgoing their screens. we cuddle with the sun on our faces. morning and evening sunlight is also essential to this type of slow living, i think!
I really enjoyed reading your “roundup” and the way you summarized so many differing perspectives. You took a potentially divisive set of answers and weaved them into a beautiful tapestry that made space for all of it. This really ties a bow around the idea of slow living! At least for me.
And thank you so much for including me. That really made my morning and means more than you know.
It’s not “just for” rich people, but having money certainly helps to live a slower life. For example, it still takes money to buy a sizeable land to live off of. Once you have it, that’s great, until then you have to survive, hopefully thrive, somehow. But I firmly believe that no one should wait to have a set of skills that embrace a self-reliant life - that’s slow, yet also costly at times. In the end it’s all about finding a sense of balance.
I think that the problem arose a few years ago when slow living became an Instagram aesthetic which implied that it wasn’t possible without all the linen trappings, wooden shutters, styled dining tables, and fresh flowers which came with that. I think that, just as you’ve done here, we need to work hard to break that barrier down. Ultimately, ‘slow living’ is, perhaps, a poor choice of phrase, but thus far, I don’t think anyone’s bettered it!
I once heard someone say "Having money isn't everything, not having it is."
And I agree. I think it's really difficult to feel a sense of security, stillness and safety when you're living with the uncertainty of constantly worrying about having enough money to pay the bills or putting food in the fridge.
Whilst I do think you can adopt a slow living mindset, I do think slow living requires a certain level of privilege sadly.
This was such a beautifully written piece Aimée 🫶🏼
So exciting to see this post, Aimée! The timing is spot on too; I actually am midway through a letter on a related topic. Echoing a bit of what Vicki and Lyndsay mentioned above... slow living to me is wrapped up in our nervous system’s relationship to time, environment, and events & people within that environment. Artisan products and rituals can both be deeply linked to financial wealth and privilege and I don’t think those doorways into slow living are always available. But I do think every individual everywhere has the available potential to heal their relationship with time & tend their own nervous systems. For some people groups and family lines this definitely will be harder...history of abuse, trauma, intergenerational wounding carried forward in genetic memory all alter nervous system capacity...but I still think that practice is universally accessible in some form to most people.
This was such a brilliant read Aimée, so thoughtful and thought-provoking and wonderful to have this beautiful collection of ideas and experiences. It is certainly something I have thought about when writing about seasonal living and my ideas around home.
For me, slow living is tied to the seasons and the crux of it is in the noticing and listening. My 20s and early 30s were career and 'wellbeing' driven which although I had many great experiences led me to lose my way, my body became silent and I was burn out. To come back from that, I had to honour my energy and make decisions based on what would nourish and not deplete me. I also looked to the seasons for guidance rather than trying to carry on consistently all of the time, slowly both my body and my inner voice started talking to me again. I hope that it comes across in my writing that I believe slow living comes down to noticing and listening rather than anything material, and that linear time is a construct — there is a deeper, fuller, slower experience of time when we try to immerse ourselves in the present of 'what is' and tune in with seasons and cycles within and around us xx
Ah thank you Jan, I’m glad that spoke to you. I heard the concept of ‘slow time’ and a deeper experience of time first via Irish mystic John O’Donohue… an excerpt from A Blessing for One Who is Exhausted…
So interesting reading this and seeing other's perspectives included too, this is something I try and be conscious of when I write about slow living (especially as someone that's self employed and chooses to live slower). I think it's worth while considering an element of privilege with this, and also that it's going to look and feel different in some way for everyone
I was interested to see, as I clicked on 'creating rituals and living seasonally', that only 31% had done that.
It's potentially possible to live a slow life, even if one has a job and lives in the inner city. Most cities have communal vegetable gardens, allotments etc where one could possibly take time outside of working hours to slow down, dig in a row of veggie seeds and watch them grow and yield as well as watching the seasons change reliably and comfortingly. And even if growing things is not someone's forte, all cities have parks and communal spaces where one can slow down and be mindful. I hope such things are within everyone's grasp.
That's something I hadn't considered before, Prue! Many people may be put off slow living or feel it's not for them because it mightn't reflect what they see online - i.e. a window box on a high-rise balcony, allotments etc. Maybe we all just need to get off Instagram haha
Such a great compilation Aimee! Thanks for putting it all together💕 your summary of slow living = intentionality, mindfulness and savoring the small, mundane things is so resonate to me🥰
My slow living is completely different….I’m slow because I can barely walk. Even a few steps and the pain in my hip can be excruciating. I need a hip replacement, but how long it will take, who knows 🙁.
Such interesting perspectives! I think that slow living actually means spending less in many ways. Less money on clothes because you’re not following trends. Less money on going out because you’re not chasing down the next big event.
Love this post Aimee! So many interesting perspectives, and all valid. ❤️
I guess it depends on what you mean by 'rich'. My husband and I earn about 3000 pounds a month between us (converted from Australian dollars). We live in a rural area so some things are more expensive, others less so. I don't currently work for physical & mental health reasons, but try to contribute financially by selling stuff on eBay (a side hustle I've had for over a decade) and hopefully one day making my Substack into a source of income. (And, for full transparency, I receive government benefits as a student, but it's not much).
We live 'slowly', even my husband (who has 3 part-time jobs), but we also sacrifice a lot. He drives a car with a bashed-in door. I have a strict budget for the food shop. We live at home with one of my parents, paying two-thirds of their mortgage instead of moving out and buying a houseful of furniture on top of paying rent. We have prepaid phone plans and own everything outright. We sock money away each month and are in a pretty good place financially, but only because we are strict with our finances. So slow living is certainly possible for those on a budget, but you do have to make sacrifices and figure out what's most meaningful to you. For us it's important that I'm home so I can recover from severe burnout and also study for my current qualification, so we make it work.
Also, "certain aspects of slow living, like buying organic flour, are undeniably costly" - I'm currently trying something called Organic September, and I'm discovering how expensive organic is! We have already decided we aren't going to continue buying organic after this month's experiment, because for us it's simply financially unsustainable. We have the money, but it's more important to us right now to be saving for our future than spending it on food, even if it's lovely food.
Perhaps ask a single mother of three living in a highrise in a city what she thinks about “slow living”? Of course, it is only for the rich and privileged. Like having a diet which avoids UPF’s, that girl lifestyle and whatever other cr*p Instagram is churning out to make people feel inadequate and inferior.
Thank you for sharing. I have always felt seasonal living was a reference point to return to when we have a moment. Nature is all around us, even in the cities that we can all take from regardless of monetary circumstances. Nature is not an us/them scenario but it about us and something that connects us all
what a thoughtful roundup. I've embraced slow mornings with my kids because they need that before being rushed out the door. when weather allows, i take my coffee out to the garden, they trod after me, forgoing their screens. we cuddle with the sun on our faces. morning and evening sunlight is also essential to this type of slow living, i think!
I really enjoyed reading your “roundup” and the way you summarized so many differing perspectives. You took a potentially divisive set of answers and weaved them into a beautiful tapestry that made space for all of it. This really ties a bow around the idea of slow living! At least for me.
And thank you so much for including me. That really made my morning and means more than you know.
It’s not “just for” rich people, but having money certainly helps to live a slower life. For example, it still takes money to buy a sizeable land to live off of. Once you have it, that’s great, until then you have to survive, hopefully thrive, somehow. But I firmly believe that no one should wait to have a set of skills that embrace a self-reliant life - that’s slow, yet also costly at times. In the end it’s all about finding a sense of balance.
I think that the problem arose a few years ago when slow living became an Instagram aesthetic which implied that it wasn’t possible without all the linen trappings, wooden shutters, styled dining tables, and fresh flowers which came with that. I think that, just as you’ve done here, we need to work hard to break that barrier down. Ultimately, ‘slow living’ is, perhaps, a poor choice of phrase, but thus far, I don’t think anyone’s bettered it!
I once heard someone say "Having money isn't everything, not having it is."
And I agree. I think it's really difficult to feel a sense of security, stillness and safety when you're living with the uncertainty of constantly worrying about having enough money to pay the bills or putting food in the fridge.
Whilst I do think you can adopt a slow living mindset, I do think slow living requires a certain level of privilege sadly.
This was such a beautifully written piece Aimée 🫶🏼
So exciting to see this post, Aimée! The timing is spot on too; I actually am midway through a letter on a related topic. Echoing a bit of what Vicki and Lyndsay mentioned above... slow living to me is wrapped up in our nervous system’s relationship to time, environment, and events & people within that environment. Artisan products and rituals can both be deeply linked to financial wealth and privilege and I don’t think those doorways into slow living are always available. But I do think every individual everywhere has the available potential to heal their relationship with time & tend their own nervous systems. For some people groups and family lines this definitely will be harder...history of abuse, trauma, intergenerational wounding carried forward in genetic memory all alter nervous system capacity...but I still think that practice is universally accessible in some form to most people.
This was such a brilliant read Aimée, so thoughtful and thought-provoking and wonderful to have this beautiful collection of ideas and experiences. It is certainly something I have thought about when writing about seasonal living and my ideas around home.
For me, slow living is tied to the seasons and the crux of it is in the noticing and listening. My 20s and early 30s were career and 'wellbeing' driven which although I had many great experiences led me to lose my way, my body became silent and I was burn out. To come back from that, I had to honour my energy and make decisions based on what would nourish and not deplete me. I also looked to the seasons for guidance rather than trying to carry on consistently all of the time, slowly both my body and my inner voice started talking to me again. I hope that it comes across in my writing that I believe slow living comes down to noticing and listening rather than anything material, and that linear time is a construct — there is a deeper, fuller, slower experience of time when we try to immerse ourselves in the present of 'what is' and tune in with seasons and cycles within and around us xx
Lyndsay, I appreciate that you call forward how a key element of slow living is a changing relationship with the experience of time.
Ah thank you Jan, I’m glad that spoke to you. I heard the concept of ‘slow time’ and a deeper experience of time first via Irish mystic John O’Donohue… an excerpt from A Blessing for One Who is Exhausted…
You have traveled too fast over false ground;
Now your soul has come to take you back.
Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.
Become inclined to watch the way of rain
When it falls slow and free.
Imitate the habit of twilight,
Taking time to open the well of color
That fostered the brightness of day.
Draw alongside the silence of stone
Until its calmness can claim you.
Be excessively gentle with yourself.
Stay clear of those vexed in spirit.
Learn to linger around someone of ease
Who feels they have all the time in the world.
Gradually, you will return to yourself,
Having learned a new respect for your heart
And the joy that dwells far within slow time.
xx
So interesting reading this and seeing other's perspectives included too, this is something I try and be conscious of when I write about slow living (especially as someone that's self employed and chooses to live slower). I think it's worth while considering an element of privilege with this, and also that it's going to look and feel different in some way for everyone
Thank you for sharing your experiences, Jodie! xx
I was interested to see, as I clicked on 'creating rituals and living seasonally', that only 31% had done that.
It's potentially possible to live a slow life, even if one has a job and lives in the inner city. Most cities have communal vegetable gardens, allotments etc where one could possibly take time outside of working hours to slow down, dig in a row of veggie seeds and watch them grow and yield as well as watching the seasons change reliably and comfortingly. And even if growing things is not someone's forte, all cities have parks and communal spaces where one can slow down and be mindful. I hope such things are within everyone's grasp.
That's something I hadn't considered before, Prue! Many people may be put off slow living or feel it's not for them because it mightn't reflect what they see online - i.e. a window box on a high-rise balcony, allotments etc. Maybe we all just need to get off Instagram haha
Indeed... but then again, there are some great slow living ideas on Insta.
Such a great compilation Aimee! Thanks for putting it all together💕 your summary of slow living = intentionality, mindfulness and savoring the small, mundane things is so resonate to me🥰
Savouring, yes!! You might enjoy one of my latest posts, which happens to be on that topic: https://neurodivergentnotes.substack.com/p/savour
Honestly, I think if I could *just* get off my screen and reduce all the digital noise, a lot more noticing would happen ah x
It’s made a HUGE difference in my life💕 putting my phone in the drawer, deleting most apps, reading on an e-ink tablet more✨