My Love Letter To Slow Living

How embracing a slow and gentle life can lead to more peace, more happiness, and more time for the things and people you love...

This voiceover is an audio version of my Slow Sunday Letter below. It is unedited, so may have some stutters, imperfections, and background noise. I hope you enjoy listening to it anyway!

Welcome to Generosity of Spirit, a gentle community for YOU. We find pockets of time for slow & gentle living, books, writing, journaling & life affirming work. You are so welcome here in our cosy space, grab a cuppa & stay a while... 🐢🙏📚☕💌

Welcome back to another Slow Sunday Letter! I hope you have had a slow and gentle week.

In this week’s Slow Sunday Letter, I wanted to explore what I have learnt, and how I have grown living a slower life, and the gifts it has offered me. Slowing down the pace of my life has been invaluable. I wanted to write a love letter to slow living, and invite you to find ways to make room for slow in your own life - in little ways, and in bigger ways. Let’s get started, shall we? Grab a cuppa, get cosy and let’s begin…

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Living Slowly

Living slowly is not about inaction, being unambitious, or just being slow or lazy. Slow living is essentially the opposite of a fast-paced life. Slow living teaches us to live in the present, to savour moments, and focus on what truly matters to us. It helps us find calm, and happiness in the simple things and puts gratitude at the centre of our lives.

When I was about 24, someone very close to me described me as ‘the least ambitious person they knew’ - at the time I was crushed. I repeated this to myself over and over. I couldn’t understand where I had gone wrong? I had been very academic as a child, I had received straight A’s at A level, I had traveled in my GAP year - I had gone to University - was awarded a 2.1 Bachelor with Honours in Philosophy. I had a job, I wasn’t living at home. I couldn’t understand it… what did they see? Or what didn’t they see?

And I now understand - it was because I never pursued that high status job, I wasn’t motivated by money or things, I was content living a simple and happy life. Slowness was clearly in my soul, but I didn’t understand it yet, and I didn’t for many years. Instead I felt embarrassed, different and like I had failed.

When you realise you can choose to live a life that is slower than what has been shown as ‘normal’ in our modern society, and reject the ‘hustle culture’ and the obsession with gain, we begin to break away from societal pressures and expectations. When we step out of the race - and stop rushing. When we stop multitasking, when we make room for ‘nothing’, return to life’s simple joys. When we move away from wrapping our worth in what we have - or what we can gain. When we seek out what is truly important in our lives. When we focus on gratitude and appreciation. When we create a safe place to explore our authentic selves.

It is a magic potion, that has the power to transform your life. All from slowing down, and noticing.

When I started to fully embrace slow and gentle living, and be guided by its philosophy - I finally found this pocket in which I felt safe, I found the peace and calm I craved in my life, and started to take up space, so I could explore, learn and begin to understand myself.

I started to move away from what was ‘expected’ - but more than that I stopped thinking of myself as someone who had failed.

I enjoyed getting to know my authentic self, I relished in simplifying my life. I noticed as I began to figure out and implement healthy boundaries that peace and calm found a way into my life. My connection to others improved, my connection to the natural world returned for the first time since I was a child. I liked spending my time wisely, giving attention to tasks and projects that truly mattered to me. My anxiety started to calm more and more.

Going slowly may be a luxury given the world we live in, but I don’t think it should be. I truly believe the core values of slow and gentle living can be adopted by anyone, it is just that my version of slow may look different to yours, and that is okay.

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Journal Prompts : Slow & Gentle Living

What does slow and gentle living mean to you?

When do you feel the most rushed, and why?

Can you imagine your life at a slower pace?

What is your favourite part of the day?

How can you be more gentle with yourself?

What do you picture when you think about slow living?

List three things you feel happy about right now…

What was one good thing about today…

Can you think of one thing you could do to help someone else today…

What are your favourite sights and sounds in nature?

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My Love Letter To Slow Living

To slowness,

Thank you for helping me live better than I could ever have hoped. Thank you for helping me build a peaceful life.

Thank you for showing me that strength can be built in gentle ways.

Thank you for showing me how to live authentically.

Life can often be overwhelming, and at times the noise and pressure of ordinary life, can make finding and holding peace and calm really difficult.

I wanted a slow life.

I wanted to get to know who I was outside of the noise of family, friends and expectations.

I realised what I craved was something different from most people. The high powered job, the big house, the fancy car never did anything for me. I was never fuelled by money. Instead, I valued time, feelings, balance, connection, contentment and gratitude. I started to protect my peace, I realised how safe I felt with proper boundaries in place. I saw myself grow in confidence, step into my light, take up space, and thrive for the first time ever.

Slow living helped me finally accepted myself, as I am. Sometimes, I can still get frustrated and mad at my anxious mind. But I have accepted who I am, and what I need, in order to live a happy life.

I have built a slow and gentle life, using inspiration from all around me. Over the years I have created a quiet, balanced life and found the peace I so wanted, and needed.

Gradually I have slowed down, you showed me patience. It did not happen overnight. Slowly, I soothed my nervous system, and my confidence started to grow.

Slowing down has taught me so much about myself, and about life.

I like that it can be as simple as physically slowing down, I don’t want to rush. I want to savour, mooch, potter, linger, enjoy the transition moments, notice, listen and be more present.

Thank you, slowness, for reigniting my creativity.

Thank you for showing me how to build a life that feels safe to me, helping me see the space I can take up in this world.

It certainly is a practice, it takes time and work. It isn’t always popular with the people around you. Sometimes you have to make changes that people don’t understand, or agree with.

But once you start listening, and understanding yourself, and discovering your true values, it becomes vitally important to protect yourself, and create that life that feels good to you.

I have often referred to slow and gentle living as a guiding philosophy, and I believe it really is, a guide. Thank you for being a gentle, reassuring hand showing me a different path.

Thank you for helping me build a solid foundation underneath me.

Slow and gentle living has helped me discover, explore, and hold on to the most important values in my life…

Calm, peace, authenticity, true connection, balance and creative inspiration.

I will forever be grateful to you slowness, and will always try to show others what is possible when you slow down, and allow for gentleness in your life.

Thank you slowness,

Emily xxx

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Slow & Steady - My NEW Paid Membership!

Would you like company through a slow and steady year? Then join my new membership!

A cosy and gentle space to gather together, learn from and inspire one another. Go deeper into Slow & Gentle Living and what it can mean for you.

Slow & Steady will offer 12 exclusive letters for members moving through each month of 2025. The membership is an extension of my free offerings, a deeper and more personal dive into slow and gentle living, creative work and my own life and experiences.

I do hope you will consider joining Slow & Steady - for £3.50 a month (or £35 a year), you will get an exclusive monthly letter, access to our members only journal chat space and a personal welcome letter from me to you!

I would be over the moon to welcome you. To read more about what my new membership includes read my launch post below!

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I really hope today’s Slow Sunday Letter has inspired you to embrace more slowness in your life.

Learning to slow down is an ongoing process, and you don’t have to rush through it. Go at your own pace. As you learn to slow down, look for resources that support, and inspire you.

“Moving slowly speaks to our nervous systems of safety, to our adrenals of rest and recovery, and to our minds of simplicity.” Carrie Levine

I began my adventures in slow living by developing my habits and rituals, setting boundaries and getting to know myself. I did this very slowly, because I wanted the changes and new boundaries to last. I’ve given myself the gift of time. I’m able to focus on creative projects, spend time with friends and family, find balance, be content and so much more.

I love my slow life, and want to show you how to make room for more slowness in yours…

I would really love to know your thoughts and if you are inspired to live a slow and gentle life … If you feel able, please do share in the comments.

Thank you for being here,

If you would like to support my work, you can buy me a coffee following this link!

You can buy your very own Slow Living, Book Lovers and Writing inspired Merch designed by me! Do follow the link to take a look (hosted by Teemill):

My Teemill Clothing Store!

If you enjoyed this post, found it useful or want to help me spread the word about how enriching Slow & Gentle Living can be, please do like/leave a comment or share/restack to help others discover Generosity of Spirit. Thank you for reading!