Follow Your Happiness

“Slow down. Find peace in little moments. Learn what you love, fill your life with it, and watch yourself come alive.” - Sonya Matejko

Welcome to Generosity of Spirit, a space to share my slow and gentle living philosophy. Please do subscribe to join me on this gentle journey of discovery and receive my Slow Sunday Letter straight into your inbox.

Follow Your Happiness

Earlier I was sorting out some notebooks and from in-between a couple a letter fell out and onto the sofa. I picked it up. It was a letter from a stranger.

I have taken part in Martha Brook’s The Lovely Letter Exchange for the past two years. It is a beautifully wholesome exchange of letters written for and by strangers. It was born out of lockdown when human connection seemed so much more important, and the need to spread kindness was great.

I opened the envelope - a postcard.

“follow your happiness”

and on the reverse -

“Dear Friend,

Lately I’ve been thinking how important it is to find something you truly enjoy. For me it is spending time with my horse and discovering a good book. I hope this little card will inspire you to seek happiness always.

Much Love S xxx”

As we start this year, I have spent lots of time reassessing, reflecting, and resetting. As we discussed last week, I wanted to take an intentionally slower approach to this year. I've got so many plans and thoughts and (inspired by my word of the year) dreams bubbling around my head, but I wanted to take a much-needed breather. Instead of diving in and starting a load of projects and pursuing everything that had been ruminating in my mind. I wanted to pause. Slow down. I didn’t want to get swept up in that old, all too familiar ‘goal setting’, ‘5 steps to change your life’, ‘new you’ January, that I've always felt intimidated by.

This January, I've been journaling a lot more. My focus has been on getting my thoughts out of my brain on to paper. As this month began, and I had my word of the year locked in, I felt this need to open my mind and spirit to my dreams again. But where to begin? I haven't been dreaming, I haven't allowed myself to lift the roof off and soar into my dreams in what feels like years. So, I did what I often do when feeling lost or overwhelmed. I started writing. I felt in writing down my dreams …. Silly ones, big ones, small ones, I could start breathing some life into them.

---

“Slow down in your pursuit of happiness and it's more likely to catch up with you.” Ernie J Zelinski

I loved finding my letter from a stranger, and felt this ‘call to action’ from their words. Find something you truly enjoy and spend time doing it. As I read back over the letter, I felt a sudden swell of desire to show up - in my life, in my dreams, and in my happiness.

As I navigate taking a slow and intentional start to the year, I've started to think about how I can follow my happiness, open myself up and start dreaming again. How do I take action? Start pursuing and hopefully achieving my dreams and goals, whilst remaining true to my values and slow living philosophy?

I think the conflict arises in my mind when I consider ‘the dream pursuit’ and the journey of achieving goals as being closely linked to the grind, hustle culture, and that familiar ‘hit the ground running’ January energy. Often, it is linked with images of constant performing, working and achieving. I believe dreams and goals require hard work and effort. They require focus, passion and almost certainly sacrifice in one respect or another. However, I don’t believe they should grow bigger than your needs- mentally, emotionally, physically, and even spiritually and become another thing we berate ourselves for not doing.

Happiness and dreams can thrive just as easily on the path and during the journey, as when you get to the goal or the ‘end’ of a project - in a lot of ways more so! So often we can be so distracted by our goals and this pursuit of happiness, we fail to notice the many blessings, accomplishments and moments of joy all around us. I have always dreamt of being a writer. Well, here I am - writing. I am doing it. I am living my dream.

“The central tenet of the Slow philosophy is taking the time to do things properly, and thereby enjoy them more.” Carl Honoré

Slow living invites us to build and maintain a life that can sustain the fulfilment of our dreams and goals because it asks us to fully consider where we are placing our attention and work. When we rush, and pressure starts weighing down heavy, and the negative voices get louder and louder, we lose the connection. Connection to ourselves, others and the natural world around us. Slow living anchors us in the present, and pulls our dreams and happiness into clear view, it simply asks us to slow down enough to notice and welcome them. From there, we can assign the right amount of time and focus to the things that are important to us.

---

Slow Living is full of movement

“Living Slow is not about living like a snail. It means doing everything at the right speed — fast, slow, or whatever pace delivers the best results.” - Carl Honoré

I've often used the phrase, ‘slow down, to go faster’, I've talked about pottering and gentle movement to gain momentum. I've championed single tasking over multitasking. Because here's the thing, Slow living isn’t passive. It isn’t still. Slow living is full of movement- movement that is mindful and sustaining. Movement that speaks to your mind, body and soul. Movement that is in line with your values and passions.

When we pursue dreams and goals, and start following our happiness, whatever that may be- it is so important to place the pursuit within a life where they can thrive, one that truly reflects you and your needs.

Spending time creating a slow, mindful life surrounded by grounding practices, gratitude and kindness will provide a nourishing environment for you to feel confident, comfortable, and inspired. In turn this will allow your dreams and your happiness to grow, thrive and flourish.

As the rest of this month and year unfolds, I invite you to view your dreams and goals within the guiding philosophy of slow and gentle living. I invite you to reimagine what ‘follow your happiness’ means for you when guided by a gentle hand.

How you can pursue your dreams and find what they mean for you both in the journey and destination?

For more guidance on how to be slow and gentle with yourself - follow the link below:

Journal prompts

What are three things you’re grateful for today?

What was the best part of your week?

Who are the people in your life that make you happy?

What have you learnt about happiness lately?

What are some things you’re looking forward to?

I really hope this has helped you see how you can dream big, achieve your goals, and follow your happiness through slow and gentle living.

This is how we lift the lid on our dreams. Create space for them to fly and soar, and an all-important safe place for them to land and thrive.

Thank you for being here,

With Light & Love

Emily xxx

---