Gentle living is something that I have grown to be very passionate about. Funny enough, even though it's really the way I was raised and how my family has always lived, at least to a large degree, I never realized that until just a couple years ago. It finally dawned on me that gentle living has been part of my life since I took my first breath.
Grab hold of your dreams and make them come true, for you are the key to unlocking your own magic. Now, go. Let your dreams guide you. Reach out and find your happily ever after.
Walt Disney World
As I've shared before, I am a highly sensitive, sentimental person who deals quite regularly with intrusive thoughts, anxiety, and fear. Along with those two things, I'm an extreme introvert...and an idealist who often doesn't feel like I belong in this world. I have struggled with feeling like an alien of sorts, like an outsider, and with just feeling very different from most people. So I understand completely when someone shares with me that they, too, live with these things as part of their everyday.
On top of those things about myself, I also want a different sort of life than what I see most folks living. Most folks that I see and know live very shallow, very "in-the-box", very conventional, very meaningless lives. I want something more. I always have, ever since I was a little girl. As I've gotten older and learned a thing or two about myself and what I believe about things, what exactly this means has changed over time and morphed into my thinking and feelings and beliefs that I hold today. They're nearly thirty years in the making...and no doubt, as I grow older, they will probably just get weirder and stronger and even more solidified into my soul than they already are.
While there are plenty of experts and professionals out there (99% of which I strongly disagree with), I prefer to take a more relaxed and organic approach to creating a life that is beautiful, meaningful, and true to me. What I will share today, however, is not just for me. This is truly for anyone, and in my opinion, it's the best, wisest, healthiest way to live. It is a way that invites happiness and bliss into your everyday and peace and calm to flood your heart, mind and spirit. I'm not saying that out of arrogance or because I'm so great that I came up with these things all on my own. Because, well, I didn't. These ideals that I hold onto so strongly and believe in so deeply have been formed thanks to some incredible folks I've learned a hell of a lot from over the years. Especially these last four years. These teachers of mine have been some wonderful writers, artists, creators, musicians, homemakers, crafters, holistic teachers, some old, some young, some dead, some alive, but all incredibly unique and gifted in making a beautiful life that tends to body, mind, heart and soul. And on top of those folks from whom I have learned a great deal, I also learn from and alongside my mom and sister. And nearly everything in this post are things that I have learned over the years. And lots of it, well, it's just how I grew up.
Gentle living is really a simple thing. I believe it includes several aspects that we incorporated into our daily rhythms and lifestyles. It's nothing complicated or overwhelming, for this way of life is simply taking one step in the right direction at a time. Life is a journey and gentle living is part of that journey. Gentle living is all about being kinder to yourself and to others. It's generational living and making generational choices that nurtures the body, mind, soul and heart, along with tending to life in a way that preserves goodness so that future generations can live this way, too.
We are meant to be happy and our lives are created to be filled with happiness and beauty. Gentle living allows us to be happy in a myriad of ways. It invites us to consider our senses and truly taste, see, smell, hear and feel the world around us. It awakens our wonder and rekindles the imagination oftentimes lost deep within us. Happiness is meant for all of us and yet so often we are trying so hard to attain it. And yet, there it lies, right in front of us. So many people live lives they have to escape from, and yet this is about creating a life that you don't want or feel the need to escape from. It is possible to live a life you love and find beautiful. And the truth is, it's a whole lot simpler of an answer than most would admit.
Gentle living equals slow living. Living slowly means that we are not caught up in the hustle and bustle that the world tempts us with at every turn. We realize that not everything calling out our name needs our attention, nor does it mean that we should participate in every activity that comes our way. Slow living means taking the time to breathe and notice more. Far too many people are in a mad dash of hurry to get absolutely nowhere. Abundance comes when we slow down, notice and savour that which is right in front of us. You may find that when you live slowly, you actually get more done because you are focusing only on the things that fill your life with goodness and beauty. All of the other stuff can go. Slow living is about protecting your peace and making sure your roots are planted in the good soil of beauty and calm.
Gentle living equals soft living. Living softly means being gentle with yourself and others. It means showing yourself kindness and grace and truly tending to your wellbeing, soul and mind. It means treating yourself with love and compassion. Oftentimes, it means treating yourself like you would a child. When you treat a child with disrespect, harshness, discipline over guidance, and like they are less than human, they crumble. It creates lasting effects that take a lifetime to recover from. And yet, that is how many people treat children, even (if not, especially) their own. And on top of that, it's oftentimes how people treat themselves. We need to stop hating ourselves, speaking harshly or unlovingly about ourselves, and tearing ourselves down. Being soft isn't weakness. Being soft is being kind, loving, gracious, gentle, compassionate, and nurturing. It begins with how we treat ourselves and then trickles out all around us in how we treat others and live our daily lives.
Gentle living also equals simple living. Simple living allows us to cherish the life we have now. There's nothing wrong with desiring certain things or working towards this or that, but simple living tells us that what we have right here and right now is good and blessed and beautiful. Small things get turned into big, beautiful moments when we see them through this lens. It finds happiness and delight in sitting on the porch in the evening and having long chats after dinner. It's reading a novel before bed or baking fresh bread in the morning. It finds goodness in the world of home and yet also sees the beauty of the grand world waiting for you to explore. Simple living is really that...it's simple. It cultivates beauty in the ordinary, everyday rhythms of our lives and seeks to create abundance within those moments. And, more times than not, even when I am doing something "big" or "grand", it is in a much different way than most other folks I know or see. I always just have my own little way of doing this or that, and am forever just walking my own sweet little path.
Because this is the internet after all, and there all kinds of people out there who read way into things or take things off the deep end, please do not misunderstand me. Let's pause right here before we continue and let me get this out there...This "gentle living" way of life does not mean that you never leave the house or live without modern conveniences like Little House on the Prairie. It doesn't mean that sometimes you are busy and you feel as though your head will spin right off your body. It doesn't mean that you don't have responsibilities or that your life looks like some sort of Cinderella tale.
Honestly. Get real.
We are all human. We all deal with things. We all live the same 24 hours a day. That, however, doesn't mean that there is only one way to live and that we must follow the status quo. You can live this way. There are a hundred ways to do so. It's not about hard fast rules (it's really about no rules) or some overly complicated way of living (it's really about simplifying everything that's been overly complicated for decades now). It really is quite simple. It's not some fantasy...I know folks who really live this way. I'm one of them. It's an overall approach to life and choosing a different way than what has been sold to us by mainstream society and Hollywood alike, religious and secular groups equally, pharmaceutical companies, the so-called "mental health" agenda, educational systems, big corporations, fast food industries, all numbers of experts on just about every darn topic in the world, and well, just about everyone. Because we've all probably heard... "everyone's doing it". Well, guess what, you don't have to!
If you want to, that's fine. But if you're interested in something different, that's the folks that I'm writing to. And if that's you, I'm glad you're here. ♥
Gentle living equals seasonal living. Living in harmony with the earth brings balance and peace. Enjoying each of nature's passing seasons as they come around year after year. Cherishing the snowy white winter and the fresh flowers of spring to the summer nights with lightning bugs flying around and autumn's carpet of colorful, crunchy fallen leaves. There is abundance found in the harvest of each season and getting to enjoy that harvest on our plates at mealtime. It means savouring the beauty that comes with each season and not wishing away this one for the next. Reawaking our wonder each time the earth brings forth new beauty and allowing us to drink in the splendour of that gift. Seasonal living feeds the mind, soul and body in tremendous ways. And it brings with it fresh perspective, renewal and peace and a return to wonder, which all of these are overflowing blessings.
Gentle living equals authentic living. Authenticity is a rare thing these days, especially in the age of social media. But authenticity is a true gem. When you are authentic, you are embracing your true self and allowing her (or him) to shine brightly through. It means accepting yourself for exactly the way you were made and not trying to change or fix things that make you who you are. It's being true to yourself. It's seeing your personality as just the right one for you, not in need of any fixing. It's realizing that you are enough and perfect just the way you are. It's not buying the many lies or falling into the countless traps that Hollywood or beauty industries send out, but instead, choosing to see yourself as beautiful simply because you are...naturally, truly you. It's having zero tolerance for anything less than true and authentic and genuine.
You may wonder how these aspects of gentle living bring healing and peace to those of us with anxiety or intrusive thoughts or being highly sensitive or sentimental, or whatever else you want to add. I believe that living a meaningful life brings these things. Also living a life that desires and seeks to make beauty wherever you bring these things. And finally, living a life close to the earth and in harmony with nature also brings these things. Living simply and slowly and softly and being authentic is about being kinder to yourself and others. Living seasonably and as naturally as possible is about being kinder to the earth as well as your wellbeing. And yet they all overlap. When you live slowly and simply and seasonably and softly and authentically, you are being kinder to yourself and others. It's a cycle of kindness. And it's constant if we allow it to be. The circle isn't broken unless we are the ones to break it.
Gentle living brings abundance into your everyday life when you allow these gentle changes into your ordinary rhythms. Living gently isn't hard or complicated, but it does ask of us to be creative and intentional and purposeful and most of all...kind. Kinder to ourselves, to those around us and to this beautiful dwelling place...the earth.
Gentle living is a journey, and it's not one that should be rushed. It's one day at a time, one step at a time, one gift at a time. Through all of these things come peace and calm, abundance and blessing, beauty and wonder, harmony and happiness, goodness and kindness. It's truly the way of fighting against the fears and anxieties and stresses that too often fill our minds and days and bring tension to our bodies.
There is oh so much more I would love to say about this topic, as it is something I am very passionate about and hold dearly in my soul. But this post was just meant as a condensed overview, a sprinkling of sorts or gently tiptoeing into this topic. I do hope to share more on gentle living and all the many aspects of it throughout many posts here. Some of which already exist, if you just look through my archives.
I hope this gave you even just a bit of encouragement towards creating a life that truly tends to your wellbeing...♥♥♥
A lot of good things can come from slowing down.
Moonlight in Vermont