#73: Slow Down

I had an epiphany when I was in Italy in the summer of 2007. After living and working with family in the Netherlands for a few months, I was homesick. I was counting down the days until we were back in the Netherlands, and then until I was back in Canada. Time couldn't go fast enough!

Sunset over Lago di Garda aka Heaven.

Journalling helped me to reflect on this. There I was, sitting in the dry, Italian heat, full from my dinner of flat bread pizza and scrumptious, lip-smackingly good red wine that only the Italians know how to make, surrounded by my Dutch family who so generously escorted me across Europe for the summer, and I was eager to get back to the monotony of home. Why was I so eager to put this incredible experience behind me?

A recent conversation with a friend added to my realization. We wondered aloud to each other why birthdays seemed to come faster each year. But of course they were, we soon realized. The passing of 1/15th of your life obviously feels much longer than 1/30th. It's the same as what I discovered back in Italy - the more time that passes, the less of it you have, and the quicker it goes by!

I used to want to be busy so that time would pass quicker. Now, I look forward to being bored. On the weekends, I long for the moment I have nothing to do. Time seems to slow down, tricking me into believing I have more of it. 'Slowing down', to me, means having more of those moments of peace and appreciation. The hard part is, those moments are harder and harder to come by.