What Slow Life in a Fast City Has Really Meant to Me During COVID

Image Credit - Russia Red

After almost five months of staying at home with little interaction with people, two weeks of social (distanced) engagements almost every day had me slowly crawling into bed at 2 pm on a Sunday afternoon. Buckle up for one of the least polished posts I ever published. In the book, Bird by Bird, Anne Lammot writes about a rough draft that you first write to help get the words out onto the page. This rough draft will most certainly be horrible and subsequently, you will pray no one reads said article before you can edit it into the polished, final draft you want the world to read. This is not that final, polished draft.

After sitting at the computer for hours, typing a sentence, deleting that same sentence, zoning out, curling up into a ball on my couch, I felt that an unpolished post would be the most authentic for how I’m feeling right now.

After sitting at the computer for hours, typing a sentence, deleting that same sentence, zoning out, curling up into a ball on my couch, I felt that an unpolished post would be the most authentic for how I’m feeling right now. Brene Brown talks about comparative suffering and explains that we have to stop reducing our own pain and process once compared to another’s perceived harder pain. it’s all relative to our experience and though I understand there are MUCH worst situations due to COVID, it’s been hard for me. The last two weeks have been emotionally and physically exhausting.

My energy levels pre-COVID were pretty ‘Energizer bunny-esk’. After being home for so many months, with schedules completely turned upside down and the constant fight to limit your news cycle intake, it can be a struggle to find the right balance of where to put the little amount of energy you have left. My pre-COVID ‘Energizer Bunny’ energy levels thought I could surely pull off three mini road trips in one week and 5+ nights of going out to socially distance hang the following week. Now, the Monday after, I’ve realized I was sorely mistaken to think my energy could keep up with what life felt like pre-COVID.

I’ve needed to learn this lesson. It’s been the classic case of ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ syndrome. And how many of us find ourselves in this predicament? We tell other people what to do while blinded to our own cycles of destruction

Although so much of normal life has been deeply and aggressively interrupted, I’m learning to embrace this new, slower pace. For someone who created a blog titled ‘Slow Life in a Fast City’, I’ve needed to learn this lesson. It’s been the classic case of ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ syndrome. And how many of us find ourselves in this predicament? We tell other people what to do while blinded to our own cycles of destruction. I can confidently say, however, after getting really curious about why this exhaustion has set in so heavily this Monday after, I’m ready for real and lasting change.

I’m going to keep learning and researching how to embrace and live out a slower pace of life, in the middle of a fast and bustling city

I’ll continue to post places I love to visit so that you can skip the extra time it takes to research places. I’m going to keep learning and researching how to embrace and live out a slower pace of life, in the middle of a fast and bustling city. The concept of hustling in a big city will never go away, but how can we hustle for dreams while paying attention to the slower things in life. That’s my commitment to myself and to this blog.