Slow for the Holidays

slaying dragons + the season of too much

Welcome to Slow Folk - a community for gentle hearts and rebellious creatives, thirsty for a slower life in a world obsessed with speed.

Welcome to the Unbusy Revolution.

I’m writing to you this afternoon from the antique armchair tucked in the corner of my shop. It’s been a busy day at the store. I’m exhausted.

I had planned to write a piece today about how to live slow during the holidays.

But it feels like not enough; a cardboard sword against a dragon.

Sitting here, surrounded by the detritus of a small retail shop in the throws of the holiday shopping season, I can’t help but wonder -

Will I ever fully reconcile my slow values and the reality of life as a small business owner? Am I kidding myself that it’s possible to live slow in a society drunk on consumerism and the relentless pursuit of more?

On my good days, I believe that yes, it is and yes, I can.

I’ve committed my life’s work to showing, through my actions and day-to-day life, that another way is possible. Whether that’s farming in harmony with nature, raising my kids slowly or running my business with my values front and centre, I have tried to show up, messy and imperfect, and do my best to walk the talk.

But today, I’m just tired.

Have you also made efforts to slow down, pare back, simplify?

Then the holidays come round and suddenly you feel like you’re bailing your boat with a teaspoon?

Meanwhile, consumer culture, social and family expectations and often even our own guilt and self-doubt are toddling along behind us, quietly poking holes in our hull?

Pair that with the harsh realities of our current economy, which has families running themselves ragged just to keep the lights on . . . Well, maybe it’s no surprise we’re feeling wrung out.

How do we slow down, when just treading water requires herculean effort?

Who has energy to slay dragons between laundry and work and soccer runs? Besides, the Beasts of Busy are bigger, stronger and have deeper pockets, right?

There’s an Amazon warehouse in my rural neighbourhood. I see them heading out each morning on my way to the pool. Like little grey and blue beetles, the vans start single file then fan out, scuttling in every direction.

How do we fight against this omnipresent army? This dragon with heads like a hydra?

Obviously, I’m not Amazon. I sell goods people actually need; nutrient-dense food, chemical and plastic free soap, durable, utilitarian homegoods. It’s small, it’s values-based, it’s local.

And yet . . .

I know this to be true - so why do I still feel so conflicted?

I wonder if maybe the conflict, the internal dragons I face, are reflected in each of our daily lives as we strive to carve out a refuge of slow for ourselves and our loved ones?

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Do you ever find yourself thinkin’ :

• Do I even have the luxury of saying YES to a slower pace?

• It would be so much easier to just go with the flow.

• Why is slowing down so freaking hard??!!

The thing is, slowing down is simple, but like many ‘simple’ things, it’s far from easy. Even now, nearly 15 years in to a life of intentional slowness - living slow is a constant practice of shifting, adjusting, removing, editing, shifting again.

I can cut every head off that hydra; I’m not Hercules. They’re gonna grow back.

We are always going to be walking a tightrope between the realities of living in a world where we have to earn a living and the truth of our slow values. The best we can do is strive to ground ourselves in slowness, keep choosing our values and remember that there is always another way.

Even still, those dragons aren’t gonna slay themselves. What of that?

Do we have to accept they’ll always be there? Come to terms with the fact that this is just the way things are?

But then it hit me . . .

Maybe that dragon is cardboard, too. Maybe it’s just patched together from Amazon boxes and packing tape.

Maybe it’s not a sword we need. Maybe it’s a match.

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Stacey Langford is a writer, renegade farmer and slow business mentor living and working in Canada’s Fraser Valley. In 2010 Stacey ditched her cubicle in the city to turn her attention homeward, farm and help others craft a simple life, from scratch.

Are you ready to build a life - and a living - you actually love?

I help rebellious solopreneurs and creatives build businesses rooted in Slow Values. If you’re ready to step into your own Slow Life and finally claim your calling, let’s chat!