Live Slow Enough

[The Stage is on Fire] is a page-turner in which, much like life, there are no easy answers and yet each step of the journey yields insight and hope. This work of heart must not be missed!

Melanie Faith

Creative Writing Teacher, Essayist & Poet.

Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.

The Society of Professional Journalists

In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.

I thank you … It is the authenticity of your “class notes”; and it is the delicacy and skill with which you present the nuances of classroom life and the actuality of your students’ and fellow teachers’ lives.

Maxine Greene

Philosopher and Education Scholar

Enter your email here to receive Weekly Wide-Awake

back

Live slow enough and there is only the beginning of time.
Mark Nepo

A few moments when I slow down…

Listening to cats purring.

I am a cat person. Cats don’t live fast. Cats nap when they need to nap. Eat when they need to eat. Cuddle when they need to cuddle. Listening to cats purring immediately slows my breathing. I purr along with cats when they purr. I smile when the smile. I stretch when they stretch. Feeling their soft fur immediately makes life a bit softer and hard edges wear away.

Watching a sunset or sunrise.

In recent years, I have become more awake to sunrises and sunsets. They are perfect rhythm. They are always right on time. They are generous in the way they that are gifts in their coming and going. They are gentle in the way that mornings are welcoming and nights bring rest. They remind me to pay attention to my days.

Lying in Savasana.

I have practiced yoga for many years and understand the difficulty of lying in Savasana (corpse pose). I now appreciate Savasana as a place to connect with with myself. I don’t find it easy. I find it like taking my ability-to-slow-down temperature. Some days are better than others. Some days I find peace. Other days my brain is a train wreck. What I know for sure is that the more I regularly find Savanasa, the better my ability to slow down becomes.

Working a jigsaw puzzle.

I worked jig saw puzzles with my grandparents throughout my childhood. We would work them after dinner at night to wind down. For hours, we would organize pieces, study the picture on the box, begin to pull together small sections, and look for ways they fit together. We would work on the same puzzle over months and celebrate when it was done. Time would fly. Years flew by as that was our family tradition. We looked forward to time at the table together.

Baking gingerbread cookies.

I bake gingerbread cookies with my husband every Christmas. We usually bake several dozen. The baking process requires us to slow down. Set the oven to the correct temperature. Prepare the cookie sheet with wax paper. Precisely measure the exact ingredients. Fold the flour into just-right dough. Shape the perfect cookies. Bake them exact amount of time. The process takes the time that it takes. It does not allow itself to be hurried. (I know this because I have tried.) I have to slow down to do it right.