Living Slowly

Every now and then I get the message to sloooooow doooooown. I am a person who makes lists, fills days, schedules back-to-back and tries to never “waste” time. I am sure that attitude comes from the influence of my childhood. Growing up on a farm meant there was always work to do. If the chores were done we were to be weeding the garden. If there were no weeds then we knew we should be picking the beans or making jam from the raspberries. Chores and work were never ending and time was too valuable to waste on idle pursuits. That message has invaded my mindset even to today.

Sometimes, though, God breaks through and tells me to “cool it” – well, in God speak. It is a matter of noticing things. Tasting the orange at breakfast, breaking it into segments and tasting the juice as I chew. It is savouring the coffee and thinking of the farmers who produced it, the shippers who brought it to Canada, the workers who roasted and bagged it, the fresh water that goes in it, all necessary steps to my enjoyment of that first sip of java gold. It is taking the long way to work and driving by the river and noticing the kayakers on the water. It is admiring the hydrangea blooms as big as dinner plates, appreciating the brilliant deep purple of the clematis blossoms and the sunshine yellow of the day lilies. It is listening for the songs of the birds over the hum of the neighbour’s lawnmower. It is watering the plants and watching the ants and earwigs scurry out of the way. It is saying ‘yes’ to the moment and being thankful for was is.

The old fable of the ant and the grasshopper bears wisdom. We cannot spend our life in idle pursuit when we should be putting our gifts and skills to work but there is also something to be said for “considering the lilies of the field” (Matthew 6:28). For today, I am just noticing all the goodness around me.