Slow Down... You Move Too Fast....

Slow down...

Vacations are good for the soul. Cleansing when we feel muddled. Clarifying when we feel the world is in chaos.  We regain our focus when we feel we have lost sight of what's important.  We get in our daily/weekly grind, and lose perspective on what we're even trying to accomplish.  I've heard it said many times that it's hard to see "inside the bubble" when that's where we live.  Vacations give us that bit of time that we need to regroup... to forget the grind for just a bit and remember what we believe in, what we are striving for, and who or what is truly important in life.  It gives us a chance to step outside of that bubble and see the real world.  

As a child, I knew vacations were special times, but to my young mind, it was just another opportunity to play.  As an adult, I came to understand that taking a break now and then isn't just "fun", it's absolutely necessary.  These get-aways can be short or long, near or far, simply a weekend or a month.  It can be a trip to the mountains or the beach, or an excursion to far away lands and exotic places.  

The destination and length isn't the important thing.  The important thing is to change the venue.  When you change the venue, you see the world differently for a short time, then when you look back at where you were (at home, at work, at school... etc.) the view is somehow different. There's a clarity that wasn't there before... at least somewhat.  That's why many of us find ourselves saying "I've had a good time on vacation, but I'm so glad to be home."  The familiar is comfortable, soothing, relaxing.  But it can also be blinding, if it's not broken up now and then with something different.

I know that many times I have been working on something intensely for several days, becoming more frustrated as the days go on because some problem or other seemingly can't be solved.  If I take a break, do something completely different for awhile (take a walk, work on something else, relax and play a game.... anything to get my mind off of what I was doing for just a bit), I often (very often) find that when I return to my original task, the solution is right there... hiding in plain sight all the time.  That same principle is what makes vacations (mini or mega) so important.  It's a "human thing".  We all do it... can't see the forest for the trees, some would say.  Take a few steps back, turn around, and lo and behold, there's the forest right in front of you.  

I worked with/for a fella once who liked to walk.  We worked on a college campus, so the opportunity was there on a daily basis.  Didn't matter if our destination took us completely across campus, he would walk.  I didn't understand this at first, but came to both appreciate it as a way to take a short break during a work day, and to appreciate the time it would give us to talk about things.  One of his first comments to me when we first started walking everywhere was:  "You walk too fast."  I was puzzled.  Asking for clarification, he said:  "We're Southerners.  We don't 'walk', we 'mosey'.  (Pronounced "moh-zee" for those of you not familiar with the word.) There's an art to moseying." He proceeded to demonstrate the slow walk, the unhurried pace, the deep breathing to take in the smells.  I remembered that was how Granddaddy used to walk around with us kids. Moseying gives you the opportunity to look around at what's beside you, notice the flowers, look at the butterflies and birds, pick up an interesting rock, look closely at the bark of a tree.  Moseying gives you the opportunity to squat down and see if that really was a four-leaf clover you saw in that spot of clover that you just stepped over. Moseying is one of the South's hidden secrets... and most of the time we Southerners don't even think twice about it.  It's just how we walk, how we enjoy time on a minute by minute basis, even if it's just while we're moving from one place to the other.  Hey, I get it... late for a meeting, gotta hurry.  But that's not always the case, is it?  Plan ahead when you can and give yourself a few extra minutes.  Stroll, don't walk/run.  Learn to mosey!

Hurry... Hurry...

Look around you... in the mall, on the street, at work, at school... how do the people walk?  Chances are it's a brisk, purposeful walk, lost in thought, worried expression on their faces, as they contemplate what they need to accomplish next, worrying about meeting the next deadline, or trying to figure out what's going to be for supper that night.  We all have things we have to accomplish in any given day, but it's HOW we go about doing that, that can really make a difference to our own selves.   Something as simple as allowing yourself to truly "mosey" (at least some of the time) can change your whole perspective.  It's not being lazy or selfish... it's YOU giving YOU permission not to be in high gear all the time.  Really, it's fine.  Things will get done just as they need to.  Give yourself permission to slow down at some point during every day... and not just at the end.  

Perfecting the art of moseying...

So go for a stroll, and to coin a phrase, stop and smell the roses.  Take a break. Learn to mosey.  Sometimes the only "hurry up and..." in life are the ones you've impose on yourself.  Change the timeline.  It's your timeline, after all.  

There was a song back in the '60's by Simon & Garfunkel, called "59th Street Bridge Song" that I've always thought of as a good reminder to take time to mosey.  It is, in fact, good music to mosey by.  The tune is slow and lilting, and the message is clear from the very first line:

"Slow down, you move too fast.  

You've got to make the morning last.  

Just kickin' down the cobblestones.  

Lookin' for fun, and feelin' groovy."

Simon & Garfunkel "59th Street Bridge Song"