As days go by, I have noticed that I crave for a slow and cozy life…. A warm cuppa, a good read and people I love nearby. The haste of the city, the traffic, the glitz of the malls all these tend to wear me down. A few days back I was discussing the same out loud with the Mister and Master of the house (read Hubby and sonny respectively) , to my utter surprise they echoed the same.
Though I can vouch that we do not lead a very fast paced, glitzy, corporate life, our life is pretty crammed with things to get done, places to go, people to see, things to buy. Between all this we have started to feel a longing.... a longing to be somewhere slow, where we can take our time to do things and be at our own pace, relax….
But how? In between a full- time job, a full house and the rest of the world rushing past, the chances of leading a slow cozy life seems bleak.We did not want to wait till we retire to lead a slow cozy life…. so, we started to actively monitor how our days are spent, how we went about completing tasks, the events we attend and people we meet. We started to dissect each task and event, and tried to single out the ones that made us feel rushed and drained. It was a slow but determined journey.
So, now we started to plan our days and stopped spending time on tasks, events or people that drain us. The other habit that we are actively cultivating is to get up early and spend time with oneself. It was the best decision ever. The half hour that each one of us get for ourselves is the best time we have in the whole day. This is the time that we sync with the sounds of nature that surrounds us and envision a perspective of the day ahead. It is a wonderful way to kick start our day.
We have started to head off to office a bit early, which means less traffic and a peaceful drive to office. Meal breaks are a must now and trust me it makes a lot of difference. Getting up from that chair and taking your eyes off that computer screen, makes a hell a lot of difference, the body and mind have started to send thank you notes!!! No rushed office lunches. Savoring each bite, and giving the time and the leverage to enjoy the flavors and the aroma of the food is part of the lunch routine. There are times when I get back to my work desk and even get a new perspective on how to tackle that project which was not making any sense till then.
The commute back home is reserved for relaxing music. No doubt there are days when we feel completely worn out, but then the realization that the slow evening routine awaits us just makes every stress melt away.
Evenings at home are always sacred, the rituals which we follow are always followed, lighting candles, slow relaxing music in the background and winding down. Dinner time is also not rushed, as this is the only meal of the day when all three of us sit together, and is excitingly looked forward to. The day and the events are usually discussed, and it is no surprise to us now, if we spend an hour at the dinner table.
The other step that we took was to minimize the time that we used to spend to buy groceries and on shopping. We found that the more organized we were the more time we saved. For people like me, who do not wish to go out shopping, online shopping apps are a lifesaver. Everything and anything you need; you get it online. Once you get into the groove of an app, it is easy to start a subscription and all your stuff reaches you as and when you need it. Setting out two hours on the weekend to do meal prep and organize everything for the week ahead, give us the leverage to lead the rest of the week at a slow pace.
Friday evenings, Saturdays and Sundays are sacred as far as we are concerned, these are the days we get to do what we love the most, sit back, relax, and enjoy. Friday evening wine down is a must in our family. We sit together and have the time of our life. None of us like to miss it now.
Mostly, Saturdays are reserved to go places. We try to find places which are less crowded, usually a park or somewhere close to nature. Once I started to explore my city, I was surprised at the number of nature’s trails it had on offer.
We understood that, once you open to nature, you will start to focus more on stuff happening in nature, like listening to the birds, gazing at the sky and the stars, following a butterfly on its trail …. Each of these has brought us closer to nature. We start to sync with nature and we now realize that nature does all tasks at its own pace; and we as a family has also started to do tasks at our pace.
Sundays are reserved for siestas …. What is life without an afternoon siesta we say…. Have a full lunch, we set up the whole lunch table, celebrate and thank the week we had, and welcome the one ahead.....then an afternoon siesta….
Taking out time each day, enjoying everything that we do, keeping away from people that drain us out, have made us relaxed…We now keep everything simple and are trying to be as close to nature as we can be. We now listen our heart, and have stopped racing behind the unseen, to our happiness, the warm, cozy, slow life have started to hug us….
Happy Musings
Tina
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