On Slowing Down

Hello friends,

I’ve been busy. Really busy. A stack of business things to take care of, people looking to me for help, and the world… well. Yes. The world.

Midweek, I got a strong message to slow down inside. And then yesterday, my body decided to tell me I needed to slow down even more. It’s nothing major, but enough to hammer home that slowing down was not only a suggestion.

Why slow down, when there is so much to be done? Because if we don’t slow down inside, things tend to spiral out of control. Because if we don’t slow down inside, we can’t be in this life for the long haul. Sustainability requires patience, doesn’t it?

This week’s Patreon essay was all about slowing down, too. Here’s how it begins:

This week, I got the message, “Slow down.” It came in the form of a rune. Isa. Ice. One straight line carved into a smooth piece of wood. Another interpretation, at least this week, could be, “Chill out.”

It’s no surprise that I pulled that rune during a week filled with work-related stress, an existential crisis about the state of the world, and with day after day filled with the news of human suffering.

But really, “Chill out?”

Yes. Really. Chill out. The essay goes on:

When we speed up inside, we become agitated, clumsy, less precise, overwhelmed. Our central nervous system goes into overdrive, causing a cascade of physiological and psychological ramifications. Our heart rate spikes. Our breathing constricts. Our digestion rebels. We have trouble sleeping, or perhaps we want to do nothing but sleep. Our brains have trouble coping.

When we speed up inside—not from burst of joy or excitement, but from stress or anxiety—we become less effective in how we respond to the world. We react instead of choosing.

Right now? We need to slow down because we need to choose.

Honoring autonomous choice is one of the most important responsibilities of human life. And if I have to slow down in order to better choose?

Well, I guess I’ll listen to my body, and to the runes.

Wishing you strength and ease today.

Thanks for being here — Thorn

You can read the complete short essay here: To Be More Effective