We live life in the fast lane. We race to keep up with The Joneses. We are over-worked, over-committed and over-stressed, and we compete on how busy and important and sleep-deprived we are. But we don't need to.
There is an ever-growing group of people who are saying no to life lived at 110%. They are opting to slow down, simplify, say no and focus on the things that are truly important. I'm one of them, and in The Slow Home Podcast I chat to others who have adopted a similar approach to life - slowing down, opting out, saying no.
Listen in to learn what makes people change, how life is different once you adopt a slower way of life, and what their advice is to anyone looking to get out of the fast lane.
“What we need now more than anything is more compassion and grace.”
Season 5 has thus far been a pandemic-free zone (mostly because all episodes previous to this one were recorded before the world turned topsy-turvy) but that changes today.
After having a couple of weeks to process some of the changes in our own lives and the world at large, Ben and I spend the first half of this week’s episode chatting about where we’re at right now, and the huge shifts in pace and productivity that have happened. Ben shares the impact the crisis has had on his business while I talk a little about trying to work around home-school responsibilities, heightened anxiety and a new normal.
There is no doubt that slow living has given us a lot of tools over the years, many of which have been helpful in the first weeks of the pandemic and lockdown, so we dig a little in to what they are and how they’ve been helping. We also discuss:
The impact the crisis has had on Ben’s business
Working from home while also trying to keep on top of home-schooling responsibilities
What’s helping us the most right now
Why limiting inputs of news and social media is so important
How we’re allowing ourselves to ‘feel all the feelings’
Why single-tasking has become more important than ever
The second half of the episode resumes normal transmission with the final catch-up with a guest from Season 4. And honestly, what a way to finish! I catch-up with Elisa who shares some of the changes she’s implemented in her days, before going on to shed some light on one of her biggest ongoing challenges.
One of Elisa’s children has medically-complex needs and working out how to apply intentional living to those additional requirements is something she and I discuss in-depth. Through all of this Elisa reminded me of the power of resilience, and the strength in being able to encompass the messiness of life and the warrior of motherhood – and everything in between.
“The roots of self-care was born in underserved communities that recognised that no-one else was going to care for them.” Today’s episode is another one we recorded PP (pre-pandemic – more on that below), but just like last week’s chat about technology, it’s a pretty timely conversation. Ben and I dive deep in to self-care,… Continue Reading
“Look beyond books, podcasts and movies and find time to focus on what slow living means for you.” Carl Honore Is slow living anti-tech? Is it possible to have an intentional relationship with tech, when virtually all of our interactions use some form of it? And what about kids? How can we show them what… Continue Reading
“Values help unravel problems and tricky situations. You look at things differently when you look at them through the lens of your values.” In this week’s episode we talk about community – that sense of rightness or home or belonging that strikes when we truly feel seen in a place. In part this episode was… Continue Reading
“It’s not until you bring people together that change actually happens.” In what feels like a natural progression from last episode’s theme of Stuff, this week Ben and I dig in to the efforts we’re making to reduce our waste. From food, to clothes, to cleaning, we discuss where we started our waste reduction journey… Continue Reading
Since returning to Australia and moving in to a new home, we’ve found there’s a lot of curiosity about our stuff. Or more specifically, whether we’ve accumulated a lot of it since settling down. So in this episode we decided to dive deep in to our current relationship with stuff and how we view the… Continue Reading
“It’s much better to have five minutes of discomfort by saying no, than having months of resentment.” Welcome back to another season of the Slow Home podcast! As we mentioned in last week’s sneak peek, Season 5 of the poggie has a new format that I’m pumped to share with you. Each episode comprises of two parts,… Continue Reading
Hello, and welcome to our 2020 Summer Series! Every Thursday in January we’ll be revisiting some of our favourite podcast episodes while we walk the slow living walk over the summer break. Also it turns out podcasts, just like fine wine, really do get better with age, so whether you missed them the first time… Continue Reading
Hello, and welcome to our 2020 Summer Series! Every Thursday in January we’ll be revisiting some of our favourite podcast episodes while we walk the slow living walk over the summer break. Also it turns out podcasts, just like fine wine, really do get better with age, so whether you missed them the first time… Continue Reading
Hello, and welcome to our 2020 Summer Series! Every Thursday in January we’ll be revisiting some of our favourite podcast episodes while we walk the slow living walk over the summer break. Also it turns out podcasts, just like fine wine, really do get better with age, so whether you missed them the first time… Continue Reading
