How to Live More Slowly - VIDEO
Hi, dear reader.
This time of year feels like the most exhausting. October, in so many ways, feels heavy, like a weighty, black sandbag that lands on your shoulders, something you just have to carry even though you don’t quite have the strength for it. Life moves forward and the evenings grow darker, even though all I want to do is curl up by the fire with my knitting for a week, a bucket of ginger tea beside me. I’d drift off to sleep whenever I felt like it — which would be often throughout the day — and simply gaze into the flicker of the flames.
Every year around this time, exhaustion hits me. It’s like a sledgehammer, one that won’t go away by staring at the bottom of a vitamin bottle or drowning it in coffee. Life slows down, even though I try hard to stick to routines, chores, and work that don’t understand how I need time to adjust to the darkness and cold. I long for the days when we knew how to retreat into the cozy corners of our homes after the work-filled summer, basking in dim light, working quietly and listening to stories. But now, we have electric lights. And clocks. Ugh, those annoyingly relentless clocks that have no patience for the fact that I just can’t keep up right now. Believe me, I’ve tried.
This year, I decided not to judge myself or the feeling of not accomplishing anything. I’m letting time pass, and the work can wait. It’s not going anywhere. I slow down and rest. I turn off the electric lights and let my eyes adjust to the soft glow of candlelight. I do only as much as I can handle.
Just this thought alone has helped me tremendously in getting through the dark evenings and dim mornings of October. Oh, how the soul, mind, and body rest when they no longer have to juggle a thousand things at once. And yet, nothing truly comes to a halt. Life moves forward, the work gets done, but at its own pace. When I’m rushing around in a frenzy, I don’t take time to notice what I’ve already accomplished.
Here’s a video about my slow-paced life in the October North. Grab a big cup of steaming, honey-sweetened tea, wrap yourself in a blanket, and enjoy the video. I hope you find some inspiration for a slower life. We’ve earned it in this rainy and muddy October.
Wishing you a slow and peaceful October. Thank you for being here.❤️
♥ Sanna