Simple and Slow. The Words I’m Sticking With, In All Aspects of Life

For more reasons than one

It may be a reaction to my early adult years when I was working a lot, giving everything, not willing to take the breaks my body asked me to.

It may be aging, although I’m still only in my 30s.

It may be part of how we simply change over time.

Change is a natural part of our lives, and so it’s only natural that our lifestyle reflects that. With new years comes new thoughts. Rather than resolutions, this is often a time for reflection for me.

Two words that keep popping up in my head are simple and slow, and there are many reasons for it.

The fast lane isn’t sustainable

Slow living often refers to a lifestyle that encourages a slower approach to daily life. Living better, not faster.

It’s the opposite of the typical rat race, where faster and efficient is always winning. Productivity and the endless race to do it all before you reach this or that age is putting an unnatural pressure to life.

Why do we need to become millionaires by 30? Why do we need to be successful entrepreneurs three months after quitting an office job? Why the rush?

This lifestyle doesn’t leave room to just be.

Some people don’t want that, though. They are intrigued by it and thrive in an environment of constant personal and financial growth. With plenty of challenges constantly pushing you to do better. Ditching TV and recreational non-result-oriented hobbies to hustle. That’s what is great about the fact that us humans are different.

Personally, I don’t always want better.

Sometimes, I just want to be lazy and do nothing.

As a society, we generally do not.

I can’t help but think that the ever-increasing numbers of anxiety and depression are reflecting a culture that isn’t always healthy.

A study featured in U.S. News highlights that almost 10% of Americans suffer from depression, and the disorder is increasing fastest among teens and young adults. Between 2015 and 2020, incidence of depression reached 9% among Americans 12 and older. Among teens and young adults, the depression rate stood at 17% in 2020.

I can’t imagine the pandemic improved anything.

The young adult phase in life is often when you’re first starting your career. No wonder it can be stressful and cause anxiety; that feeling of simply not being good enough can sneak up on you quite easily.

I was terrified of failing when I first started working. I would think about news and ideas for the next day’s paper all the time. I would dream about it. I would be incredibly stressed and distracted if I didn’t have any ideas for the next day. And don’t get me started on the feeling of an approaching deadline without being able to get ahold of the main source.

I had to learn to take breaks. It was part of my getting used to a new lifestyle as a working professional. Then, I thought I had it all figured out, great balance and all, and we moved to America.

Even though I didn’t have all-consuming jobs, it felt like starting from scratch, because the society is revolving around productivity. A recent article by NPR talks about how Americans are becoming less productive and it’s a risk to the economy.

It may be a risk, but I don’t think the productivity expectations that were there to begin with, were sustainable.

Simple allows for quality

Simple living means ditching distractions that don’t matter.

“Stripping away the nonessential stuff to focus your time and energy on the things that matter the most to you”, as pointed out in Happiness.

Whether it’s a meal, a planned trip, or stuff - focusing on the simple things has, in my experience, allowed for more quality, often in the sense of time.

Rather than some extravagant trip to an amusement park, we take our kids to the beach during the summer. It’s simple and they love it.

They pick rocks and other free souvenirs from the ground. We don’t bring a large cooler, an umbrella and chairs to the beach. We bring towels, bathing suits and some water bottles. Maybe some fruits. It’s not stressful. I have a feeling a trip to Disney with my three boys would be.

It’s also no secret that choosing simple things such as being in nature, meditating, or just going on a walk is often cheaper than, for example, a gym membership. A trip to the beach is (in our case) cheaper than a trip to an amusement park.

When simple is free, it can in turn help reduce that financial stress that many worry about. In the American Psychological Association’s 2022 Stress in America Survey, 87 percent of people who responded listed inflation, rising costs as a source of significant stress. When money and financial concerns cause ongoing stress in your life, you could eventually begin to experience feelings of anxiety as a result.

Simple isn’t always possible, but when it is, I choose it.

I’m sticking with simple and slow because, in my life, nothing else would be sustainable. And without sustainability, things tend to collapse.

I’d rather not collapse.