“Oh, look, here’s a big bee just tumbled out of an apple blossom. Just think what a lovely place to live–in an apple blossom! Fancy going to sleep in it when the wind was rocking it. If I wasn’t a human girl, I think I’d like to be a bee and live among the flowers.” - Anne of Green Gables
I do not miss the game of cat and mouse that I used to play with life. Busily drafting the next step, scheme, thought, conquest, conversation. It's amazing how one can be utterly exhausted without realizing it. Striving, pushing, and moving fast, is often so distracting, that it isn't until we actually do a hard stop that we realize how crazy or draining something was.
I think the idea of slow living often gets mistaken with the idea of idleness, or some fantastical life of lounging among the wildflowers in a ginger bread cottage, which is completely out of reach for the average person. However, once we realize that slow living is actually just another term for intentional living, it is life changing, and accessible for anyone. Anne Shirley of the Anne of Green Gables series was a master of intentional living. Her mind operated in moments, in romanticizing the things that most people never noticed. Others would pass down the road, lost in their duties and thoughts. Anne however, would have her eye caught by the seagull soaring overhead, or the bee dancing with the apple blossom. She would see more than a trail leading through the garden into the woods, Anne saw the path of delight.
One could argue that never before in history has it been so easy to be unplugged from the wonder all about us. This is ironic of course, being that we are so plugged into everything else. The scripture tells us that God has displayed His invisible attributes to be clearly seen by man throughout all of creation. It's right there in front of us, the wonder, the awe, the very trees giving glory to His Name.
It's amazing how people today have become so busy, yet really doing not much of anything at all. I would argue that it's time to re-define success and accomplishment and living.
In truth, it is not simple slowing down the mind, when it is used to constant noise, images, consumption, and pressure. It's not simple, but it certainly is possible. It's starts with the simple conscious effort to stop and be grateful throughout the day for what seems small in our modern world. Thank you Lord for my bed, hot running water, for the apple, for my feet, for warm tea in my mug. These things are not grand or expensive, but they are blessings. This begins to re-shift our minds to notice what we used to pass by. It was truly life changing for me when I started operating out of the mindset that none of these things were owed to me, but rather, they were a gift.
And truly friends, It's the little moments that make our life, that become cherished memories, that stack up into the sum of who we really are. It's in those places that the voice of the Holy Spirit whispers to us comfort and guidance. Don't miss the moments...