(Trying) To Slow Down

February 15, 2016

Jay and Lauryn in a snow cave in Provo Canyon.

I've mentioned this before, but 2015 was such a long year for us that I've been really searching and listening for ways to SLOW DOWN.

At first what I thought I really needed was to SIMPLIFY my life (or take up drinking--LOL), but for some reason the idea of SLOWING DOWN is really what is striking a chord with me.

And so as Janae would say, "My Great Brain Project" this year is to learn everything I can about how to slow down.

(Psst: For those of you who haven't heard about the Great Brain Project:

Janae's kids have an annual project at their elementary school where they pick a topic--any topic--and learn all they can about it. It may be a favorite insect, a country, a profession . . . ANYTHING! It's really cool. So cool, that Janae started doing them herself. My favorite Janae Great Brain Project was a quest to learn about gelato--and then find "the best one" in town. Cool, right?)

Okay, my point!

I know it's dangerous to try to make too many changes or radical shifts in life if they aren't sustainable.

And I'm not sure how this will all play out over the coming months.

But I do know this: there are a few habits I can incorporate into my life that will make measurable positive changes. For me. For Dave. And for our family.

So far, I'm trying to learn as much as I can about myself AND other people who have made an effort to slow down.

Here are some of the take-aways that seem doable and inspiring to me so far:

1. Listening to The Minimalists podcast from time to time.

These two authors have some great tips about living a more intentional and meaningful life: Less stuff and more experiences. (PS: I find this kinda ironic, but my attention span is so short that I often find myself NOT having time to listen to the full thing.) Listening from time to time helps me to stay motivated to find joy and purpose in the every day.

2. Meditating for 10 minutes every morning.

I'm using the App "HeadSpace" and it is a good fit for me. (I don't have any affiliation with them, but I liked their 10 day "jump start"--which is free--and then decided to subscribe.).

3. Listening to the Slow Your Home podcast (again, time to time).
This Australian couple is in the process of blogging and podcasting about their family's journey to slow down. They have some great guests who've encouraged me to read certain books and make small tweaks to my daily schedule. For example, if I can do something in one minute, I do it right then. (Like washing a mug vs putting it on the counter or waiting for the dishwasher to be filled.)

4. Blogging more frequently.
It's important for me to write every day and the blog has always been a good place for me to that. As part of my SLOW DOWN goal I am trying to be more intentional about blogging.

5. Decluttering.
It's taken us 25 years of marriage, but we FINALLY see that there's so much clutter and unnecessary-ness to many of the things we've added to our home/lives over the years. I think I mentioned this on the blog before, but beginning mid-January we started a 30-day project to de-cluttering our lives. The goal was to get rid of one item on Day One and two items on Day Two . . . and so on . . . until we'd hit 465 items.

Shockingly, we hit 465 items by about Day 20.

Just to give you an idea of what we mean:

we've tried to get rid of anything that doesn't have a purpose OR bring us joy.

In other words, the mismatched drinking glasses, books we won't read or have electronic copies of, the waffle iron we haven't used in 4 years, apps we didn't use, FACEBOOK, the spices we bought 10 years ago but never used, the clothes we haven't worn in 18 months, lamps we don't like, random plastic EVERYTHING, the extra 6 springform pans I bought on sale, chords that don't belong to anything . . . and on and on and on.

I think we have been to the thrift store and community dump at least 8 times each, and I can't begin to tell you how much my brain loves the extra ROOM. Wow. I had no idea how much space these things were taking up (literally and metaphorically) in our lives.

Ahhhhh.

So that's what's going on here. Funny that slowing down actually requires some action, but I think in the end it will be all worth it. A little extra work now for a lot of extra space and time in the near future.

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And now, some of this week's pics.

Making pizzas for Family Night. Jr. works at a pizza place, so of course his has 50 pepperoni on it.

Our latest obsession: pistachios.

Papaya and Bam have still been able to spend time with our favorite little person.
Papaya did her hair this week. I don't even know how to do a reverse French braid. I'm cracking up.