Join Me For #SlowDownInSeptember

A few days ago I mentioned on Instagram that I'm starting a new month long project called #slowdowninseptember. Lots of mums commented that they're really excited about the idea and hope to get some good tips on how to slow down their busy lives.

At first I was excited that mums might be interested in what I've got to say about slow living. Then, naturally, I freaked out. Because I'm basically admitting to the internet that I like doing nothing much. Isn't that a little um, socially unacceptable? Also: what if I don't make any sense? What if I'm wrong? What if it's not perfect? What if people think I'm WEIRD?

Naturally, I had a bit of a think on this (while I sat on the front deck, watching Max play). I realised I'd made my own judgements about slow living based on my cultural upbringing; being busy = being important (and normal). I think that's why we all struggle so much with actually slowing down. It sounds good in theory but in practice, it can be quite uncomfortable.

So then now is the time to get uncomfortable, I think!

I'd like to kick off by saying that I am by no means an expert or perfect at the slow lifestyle. But it seems to me that really is the nature of slow living..it's imperfect. It's a commitment to honing in on the important things in life and sometimes we get distracted. So by sharing my thoughts, I am, in a lot of ways, accepting my imperfections.

This project is meant to be a way for me to document and nut out all the thoughts I have about this topic, why it's important to me and how it helps me live a more fulfilled life even while doing less. I want to figure out my own meaning for what slow living is, what it isn't and see if it has any limitations.

For as long as I can remember, I've been trying to live as minimally as possible, be kind to the environment and be more conscious of our consumption. That's been something I've really valued and taken pride in. However, I still found myself quite busy and not ever quite able to keep up. That's why I think slow living is something worth exploring more because it feels so much more relaxed and enjoyable.

I hope you join me! Each day here on the blog I will be sharing a long form post about a certain area of slow living I want to dive into more. Tomorrow will be all about how I got so busy in the first place, and a bit of my journey to slowing down. If you want to get an email notification when the post is up, you can sign up for that in the box below this post!

Hop over to instagram too where I'm sharing little snippets and asking daily questions about your slow living experiences. Share your photos using #slowdowninseptemberas I'd love to share them in my Instastories. I think there will be great community discussions in the comments over there too so please come and join in!

Rachelle xo