28 days of Slow Living
Reflections & photos from my participation in the recent challenge + announcing a winner!
At the end of June, I introduced a 28 day calendar of slow living prompts (now found in the resource section) and I decided to create a challenge for this community to complete one slow task a day for the month of July.
A BIG thank you to all participants and congratulations to
-YOU are the winner!🎉I’m truly grateful to those who have followed along, provided feedback and including me in your journey - I too participated in the challenge alongside you all in thought and spirit and appreciated the feeling of community. It was through this invisible thread of connection that got me wondering:
Why is it that we often think of slow living as a solo journey?
I can attest that almost every slow living takes on another layer of quality when shared. In truth, slow living has the capacity to touch many around us indirectly through our choices and actions.
Here are my highlights from 28 of Slow. *Spoiler alert*: I broke all the rules - skipped days, switched up tasks, and in the end, surprised myself and had a wonderful time.😊
I hope my experience might be an inspiration to you to give it a try!
My 28 Days of Slow Living
Day 1 prompt: Start a gratitude list
Day 2: Try a guided meditation
While I’m good at coming up with my own journal prompts (ever full of questions and scintillating ideas that desire to be put to paper) sometimes I don’t feel like the physical act of writing. Guided meditation has turned out to be my favorite form of the practice for times when I’m feeling lower energy or needing a little re-boot. While it can be a challenge to find the right one, it is worth the effort to find a few that work for you – a very individual task, I find. I’ve tried many, ranging from clanging exotic folk music, to the drone of ancient hymns, and voices of all timbre. Recently, I stumbled across
’s publication here on Substack and enjoy the simplicity and cadence of her meditations… plus the photographs and aesthetic is just… right. For me.Day 3: Write about a spiritual belief or practice that fills you with peace and/or gratitude.
Prayer is spiritual practice I’ve maintained as both buoy and anchor through thick and thin moments. Not raised in a religious household, I suppose it started when I was very young and sometimes a lonely only child, talking to an invisible friend – conveniently an omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent friend.
Since those early days, it has evolved but remains steadfast in its effectiveness to bring peace, insight, and hope.
Day 4: Sketch a tiny portrait of something you find beautiful in your environment
A ink sketch of a beautiful crystal goblet…and a rather abstract tulip.
Day 5 – 9: …life happened
Pumpkin cut another tooth and wasn’t sleeping well because of it which meant, I wasn’t sleeping well. On top of the daily to-do list, additional structure felt burdensome, so I decided to take a break from “scheduled” slow time and just did what felt like a good way to slow down. Sometimes that was laying flat out on the grass, cloud gazing for a few minutes at a time, other times it was a nice long walk taking pictures of flowers or doodling in my journal.
Day 10: *I “broke the rules” and decided I wanted to do the day 9 task: Write a few lines about a favorite activity in nature
Of the many things I love doing outdoors, gathering will always remain high on the list… herbs and berries, flowers, leaves, stones and other objects of beauty or intrigue. This happens to be an activity in which Pumpkin loves to partake and so, we go on a daily excursion, rain or shine, into the forest or by the ponds edge and collect whatever catches our eye… and my home may or may not be soon log-jammed with with such treasures.
Day 11: Choose a plant and look up some interesting facts about it.
I’m trying out Picture This plant identifier/app and so far it’s been a great experience. I’ve discovered that I have Cornelian Cherry growing wild in my garden! It’s not a true cherry species, rather a dogwood but the berries are edible and are how the tree got its name: the bright fruit resembles the gemstone carnelian. What’s more, there’s a good amount of research attesting to it’s medicinal properties which appear largely due to it’s high antioxidant capabilities.
Needless to say, I’ll soon be making jam and juice with them! …Check out this video for the recipe:
Day 12-14
I combined day 13’s task over 3 days and avoided *most* of what felt like an energy-drain. I admit there was a little fretting over whether tasks would pile up, but I somehow emerged on the other side with more energy than I had before. Goal accomplished. ✅
Day 15 – 18: …change of plan: camping near my ancestral stomping grounds
We spent a few days camping in the Rhine valley and so, once again I abandoned the calendar and just went with the flow. I find camping to a quintessential slow living experience. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I honestly believe that we’d all do well to get out of our daily grind (and comfort zone) and be submersed in the healing rhythms of the outdoors. Also, Pumpkin and Weasel1 loved it!
Day 19: Use a favorite quote as a journal prompt
I love words and keep quotes around me constantly… on napkins, sticky notes, and sometimes find them in unexpected places. And, just as I had decided on THE one to journal about, the opportunity came to have an exchange letter with another creator here, our topic being: a favorite quote! I’ll soon reveal the quote and with whom the letter exchange is with!
Day 20: Spend an hour with an animal
Pumpkin is officially the youngest birder I know. Gazing after flittering dances, tiny hops, and pecks in the grass of our garden, he said his first word: “bird”. If there was any previous wavering between a naturalist or ornithologist future on his part, the choice has been made. He pointed his chubby perfect finger at the blackbird sitting in the birch and said the word plain as day. I melted.
Up until that moment, I hadn’t really computed how much time we’d been spending talking about, looking at, or following the habits of our closest neighbors - the birds. But I’m proud to have forged another small connection to nature. We’ve come to know “Boyd” the blackbird and his family quite well and were honored with his choosing our tree to build his nest and raise this year’s family.
Day: 21-22 skipped…
Tbh I don’t know what happened on these days. Sometimes the beauty of life with a touch of ADHD and a toddler is that you just go from one moment to the next.
Day 23: Send a postcard to someone who has made a difference in your life.
I sent postcards to my aunt, my sister, and my best friend.
My aunt is the only other black sheep of the family and, recognising that I didn’t fit in with the herd, helped me to see that this was just fine.
My little sister shares my dry sense of humor and is one of the most trustworthy people I know.
My best friend continues to inspire me with her unfailing confidence and relentless pursuit of big dreams.
Day 24-27: …All work and no play… makes it all feel kinda pointless.
When birthday preparations started to get the better of me, I knew it was time time to recalibrate. I mean, what’s the point of having a birthday party if I’ve worked myself into a flustered frenzy over it? It was time for less lists and chores, more calm and presence. I took a bath and while in my happy place, submerged in bubbles, I made a mental list of all the tasks I could scrap that would make life easier. Lo and behold, the party was still a terrific success, minus the stress.
Day 28: Make a list of 3 skills you are grateful for and one you would like to learn
Horse training
Clarinet
Public speaking
One thing I would love to learn (among so many, such as: how to cook without destroying the kitchen) is: embroidery… currently inspired by
’s amazing talent:
Will you share with me how it went for you?!
Who did you sent postcards to?
What was your favorite prompt and why?
Thank you for reading!
If you enjoyed this, please let help others to find it by liking or sharing. ❤️
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Not their real names ;-)
Thank you for sharing your 28days! My 28 days were not recorded but I am positive they were slow ;)
A little Boyd is calling...I must go
That blackbird nest is so cute! And what a cool challenge, sounds like a lot of fun 😀 and I like how you allowed life to happen as well, that's what slow living is truly about