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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Slow & Behold

Virginia De Leon Staff writer

Overworked? Overbooked? Overwhelmed? Here’s advice from folks committed to maintaining simpler, less stressful lives: S-L-O-W down.

Slow, they say, is the antidote to the time famine Americans and others are experiencing in this hectic, fast-paced world.

Slow is also an approach to life – a movement that encourages people to sit at the table and eat dinner with their families, to focus on relationships, civic engagement and sustainability, to live each moment with mindfulness.

Oct. 24 is Take Back Your Time Day, an opportunity for potlucks, reflection and conversations around the table. Established about four years ago by Take Back Your Time – a project of Cornell University’s Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy and an initiative of the Seattle-based Simplicity Forum – the day serves as a reminder of how busy we are and how little time we have.

“As Americans, who are expected to live their work and work their hardest all the time, we face a lot of stress and mental anxiety,” said Argyle Baukol of Spokane, 26, and a supporter of the Take Back Your Time initiative. Because of this pressure, Baukol and others in the area often have to remind themselves to slow down and simplify “in order to maintain that balance and feel human again,” she says.

It’s a well-known fact that Americans work more hours per week and more weeks per year that most Europeans. The United States also doesn’t guarantee workers any paid vacation time or paid leave for childbirth. But in addition to work pressures, most Americans have too much on their calendars – meetings, the kids’ soccer practice, homework, cleaning the house, responding to e-mail. …

Troubled by the perpetual demand on their time and the toll it has taken on their health, families, communities and also the environment, more people in the Inland Northwest are examining their lives and exploring ways to reclaim this precious commodity.

About three years ago, Barbara Williams of Newport came to the realization that her job at a nonprofit in Spokane – which often demanded more than 40 hours a week – was creating havoc in her life. The long hours made her tired and cranky, she says, and it took time away from the people and hobbies that she loved.

So she quit and ended up taking a part-time position with the Selkirk Conservation Alliance. She also left the hustle and bustle of the city for a quieter existence in Pend Oreille County. Williams makes less money now, but she has found space in her once too-busy schedule to plant a garden, build a house using recycled materials and spend more time with grandchildren.

“I just needed to slow down a bit,” Williams says. “Now I know I don’t have to do everything and I’m no longer so frantic.”

To devote more time to his spiritual life, Kevin Conlin, 53, also made some drastic life changes.

After living in the same house for 23 years and working as a computer consultant for even longer, Conlin quit his job in Gainesville, Fla., gave away almost all of his possessions and drove 2,700 miles in his Volkswagen Jetta to Newport’s Sravasti Abbey.

His initial plan was to take a year off and offer a year of service to the Tibetan Buddhist monastery, a place he had visited many times for retreats. Six months into his sabbatical, Conlin decided to sell his house and stay at the abbey indefinitely.

“It became a priority for me to use my time as best as I could and to pursue a spiritual practice,” says Conlin, who now spends his day meditating and working alongside others seeking to deepen their own spirituality.

In our Western culture, there’s a tendency to equate security with a house and a 401(k), he says. “But that’s all smoke in mirrors,” Conlin adds. “Heck, I can be dead tomorrow. … Now is all we have for sure, so I wanted to have that peace of mind of doing something that I love.”

Most people, of course, can’t afford to quit their jobs and radically alter their lives. But time can still be recouped, some say, by reflecting on what’s important: What do I care about? What brings me joy? How much do I really need?

Finding time also gets easier by becoming more mindful, says the Rev. Dr. Richard Erhardt, pastor of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane.

“It’s about enjoying the moment,” he says. “The reality is, now is the only time we have. The past is a memory and the future is a dream. Dwelling on the past and dreaming about the future prevents us from being alive in the moment.”

So to truly live in the moment, and to make good use of one’s time, it’s best to take it slow, according to Cecile Andrews, one of the founders of the “voluntary simplicity movement” and author of “Slow is Beautiful: New Visions of Community, Leisure and Joie de Vivre.”

The slow life isn’t only about demanding shorter working hours, she says; it’s also about living at a leisurely pace and taking time to enjoy life. It’s about sitting down to share a meal with family and loved ones, not having too many errands or signing up your kids for too many classes and athletic teams, going on long walks and appreciating the outdoors, reflecting on connections with the community and the world.

“The slow life is also built on the new happiness research, which says that after a certain point, it’s not more money or stuff that makes you happy,” Andrews says. “It’s relationship with other people – the need for community.”

Reclaiming time and living the slow life also isn’t about depriving yourself or moving to the woods, she emphasizes. Andrews and her husband, Paul, have achieved that right in their own neighborhood. As the founders of Seattle’s Phinney EcoVillage, the couple is among a group of neighbors who are making the effort to get to know each other and to live “simpler, slower and smaller.” Together, they focus on community, cooperation, conversation – all things that result in conscious choices that contribute to well-being, she says.

People who have a connection to their communities are more likely to vote and get involved, she says.

“Slow is for both the people and the planet – we cannot sustain the lives we’re living because we’re going much too fast in terms of personal as well as planetary needs,” Andrews says. “… At the heart of the slow life is community. It’s about taking time for people.”