Prefer to listen?
I’ve been waiting for someone to give me permission to slow down. It’s hard to tell myself, “it’s okay. You can quit that.” Or “Ambition? No need. Floating along is enough.”
Intellectually, I know that existence without “accomplishment” is more than enough of a challenge these days. But society is always so quick to throw positive attention and admiration to people who are “doing it all.”
Let’s be honest, when what we see is the celebration of the hustler and admiration for those who reach the top first, it’s hard to celebrate our inner snail – the part of us that yearns to slow down and trust that we have enough time to think things over and savor the smaller moments our lives are made of.
I remember not so long ago when my inner snail had a bit of a tantrum (as much as a snail might be able to do that). I was staring at my desk. Sticky notes, full of things I needed to do or remember, covered the surface and spilled onto the floor. I looked at that mess and was ready to climb back into bed. It was 7:45. The day had just begun.
And then I heard her. My inner snail (let’s call her Shelly) began arguing with that persistent voice. The one that says I must do more to be worthy, who says, “nobody gave you permission to slow down.”
Shelly smiled. Then she asked a question. “Who’s telling you to keep moving at this pace?”
I paused and gave myself 30 seconds to listen for a response, hoping that my intuition would kick in and help guide me. The answer was humbling.
Me.
I sighed. This was a familiar message, bordering on cliche. In fact, I’d beaten this concept into a pulp back in November!
But humans are slow learners. It takes time and patience to go from understanding something intellectually to implementing it in practice.
After I recovered from my not-so-new “aha” moment, I instantly felt ashamed. It’s embarrassing how easily I get swept away in the tides of movement! I cringed at the power FOMO had over me.
But let me be entirely clear. I didn’t want to be invited to all the parties. I wanted to see more “progress,” more “ambition,” more “movement,” more quickly.
The early weeks of January picked up speed, but before my untamable FOMO-always-behind monster (let’s call her Jane) grew out of control, I checked in with myself.
“Process.” I reminded myself. “Process over product. Process over perfection. Even, at times, process over progress.”
We’re not built to go so hard at life.
We’re built to live in that harmony between movement and stillness, doing and being, living and dreaming. And we don’t have to ask permission to show up int hat place.
So I’m taking my inner snail’s reminder more seriously this time.
My to-do list is ridiculous at the moment for a whole host of reasons. But instead of running as fast as I can to see how much I can cross off by sundown, I’m limiting myself to three daily tasks. Then I get a cup of tea without feeling guilty.
I have a dishwasher. But I’ve made it a point to do a few dishes by hand every day. The warm soapy water and the methodical repetitive motions act as reminders to slow down.
And when my fingers fly faster than I can think and I see smoke billowing up from my keyboard, I pull out a paper and pen. Hand-scripting my thoughts and ideas requires me to pay attention to the natural speed my body is intended to move.
It’s okay to slow down. The world won’t implode. If anything, life will become more profound with abundant opportunities to notice little pockets of joy we once missed when moved so fast.
Your inner snail is wiser than the thinking mind. Let it take the reins, at least some of the time. Giving ourselves permission to slow down isn’t something we can wait for. It’s a revolution that begins with us.
