D267: hurry up and slow down


what's in this email:

Things I am doing to slow down (during a busiest time of my life)
(The Slow Down Challenge) and other unrelated but always related stuff

Early doesn’t go with slow?
Early doesn’t
(usually or ever) go with slow?

swarmed by ticks at bedtime (it was HORRIFYING)

Tuesday September 29, 2026

9:25 AM

Greetings Thinkers,

Tuesday, 2 days left in September. It's REALLY FALL now. Time to get the Fall Winter clothes totes out. Those are not the same as the not now clothes pile, but it also IS the same. Not now because I'm fat or not now because it was Summer? (To be clear, I'm talking about ME, not you, and I was talking about clothes, but I also could not be talking about clothes.)

early doesn't go with slow

Continuing with some equation-y thoughts:

slow does not = small
small does not = bad

early does not go with slow

Yesterday I achieved something impossible. If that's an exaggeration then the accurate statement would be:

Yesterday I achieved something hard and unlikely. I made 2 spaces worth of stuff fit into one, in 1/2 a work day's amount of time.

Recall: when I had to move earlier this year and I was pretty "bent out of shape about it". Well I had to move again and I'm pretty bent out of shape about it again. And I will have to move 1 more time before the year is over. I wonder what my shape will be like by then.

I feel like a 20 year old who moves 1-3 times a year

Home, to college dorm room, to home for the summer for the summer job, to back to college but in a different dorm room, to home for the summer job again and living on your own renting a room in a very old cool house, to back to college but in a house with 4 other girls, to home again for the summer job, to , to, and to.

I feel like a 20 year old again, who moves 1-3 times a year, but has 20 plus more years worth of accumulated stuff PLUS...

now my JOB is to HAVE stuff

Soon, I do not want to move again for awhile.

Like months ago I said - soon I want to slow down. Perhaps not moving will happen like the Slow Down. Will see.

Anyway I moved out of a space I had to move out of and I did it early!

The whole idea was iffy at best from the start. Move all stuff from point A into point B, where there isn't a lot of space and point A has a lot of stuff. Last week I spent a whole day working on making room in point B. Yesterday I went to ATTEMPT to move all of A into B and in ONE DAY. When I got there I thought : fuck this probably isn't going to happen. 4 hours later, I thought: wait I might actually pull this off. 1 hour later I was leaving the key, taking a picture, and locking the door.

I felt so excited and relived and proud of myself for "making that happen" (A phrase that still gives me hives from a business owner I worked for a decade ago.) I did it, I did "the impossible". It's done and now I can move on to worrying about and working on the next thing which should have been the main thing I was working on all along - getting ready for this market event!

and I did it early

I'm not sure I have ever finished something or turned in something EARLY. On time, yes. Early, no.

I am 1,000% that girl - waits until the last minute.

But not this time.

was it because of the Slow Down Challenge? Because I'm focused on ways to slow down and add slow down qualities into my life. Did those things make it so I could hurry up and finish this task early? Did this "mind set" get me more energy to do something better or sooner, early?

Goes with yesterday's theme of slow does not = small and so forth, today I thought:

slow does not usually = early

When you go slow, you're not usually early, right?

Yet here I am ... early.

I'm not sure but I am noticing the irony of being in a Slow Down way and I did something early and maybe for a first time in my life!

Noted.

slow does not necessarily mean you're late to things, and apparently it also doesn't mean you can't be early!

swarmed by ticks at bed time

This was truly horrifying. I just kept saying that over and over as we combed Duck with fine tooth eyes and tape...

First Joey felt one on him. Do you know this sensation? A little tickle on your arm and you unconsciously swipe it away thinking it's a benign anything. But then it is persistent and in the same spot. If you've done this enough or lived in the woods or whatever else makes you hip to this as a thing, you know that's a sign of a TICK. Joey usually doesnt get them or feel them. It's usually me. So the fact that it was him with it this time, stood out.

He suspected it, he turned on the light, he confirmed it, got it off, and lights back out.

Me there, can't sleep which has been a recent not nice thing, I feel the familiar tickle plus now I'm paranoid because Joey just had one on him. I get up, go to the bathroom, turn on the light, and sure enough, one of those crazy tiny ticks right there on my arm. And then as I'm picking it off to flush it, I feel a second one. Now I'm freaked out and mathing: that's THREE in a very short period of time and FROM BED.

I have the spidy sense to check the Duck. Wake Joey up, turn on the lights, and sure enough he is CRAWLING WITH THEM.

it was horrifying, it was horrifying, it was horrifying.

I proceeded to sleep like shit. Oura and I agreed.

Day 8 of the Slow Down Challenge, 30 days of Slow Down.

Things I did to slow down yesterday:

has a quality of slow down

  1. I flossed. Yup my teeth. When is taking time to floss not slowing down? Do I know anyone who does this regularly? I will probably be surprised with affirmative answers to this!
  2. I stayed calm when I knew I was right. When I knew something was going to go wrong, but it was someone else's thing, I let them do it their way. This felt like a quality of SLOW. (Do slow and calm go in an equation together?)
  3. I made a custom journal as a gift, which is one of my favorite things to do. It takes time and presence and slowing down.
  4. Went to a child’s birthday lunch, was present and enjoyed it very much
  5. After the busy of the big move, we came home and WATCHED A MOVIE. To me, watching a movie or "TV" is always a quality of "slow"... and I rarely rarely do it...
  6. things I did in real time:
    1. called back an opportunity
    2. watched a movie when I felt like it

🔺

KG

​All the emails in a list ​

standouts / other thoughts

If a slow life does not lead to a small life, what does a slow life lead to?

quote(s) to consider

““The shortest route is not always the best use of the distance.”

​
words of the slow

keeping these words about slow here for awhile

unhurried — proceeding without haste
languor — a pleasant or dreamy lack of energy, sometimes almost luxurious
repose — a state of rest, tranquility, or stillness
leisure — freedom from the demands of work or obligation
respite — a temporary interval of relief from something difficult or demanding
deceleration — literally a reduction in speed, but good metaphorically
deliberate — intentional and considered rather than hurried
meander — to follow a winding course rather than the shortest route
loll — to sit, lie, or move in a relaxed, lazy way
idleness — inactivity, usually criticized, which makes it interesting to reclaim
equanimity — mental calmness and steadiness, particularly amid difficulty

a collection of standouts from the Slow Down Challenge

Sometimes - do it in real time, IS slowing down

I found products I have probably saved too long for a special occasion and I used them. Now was the special occasion. Slowing down is special?

when is going to see your Mom or best friend or grandma or a grave or some other special kindred worthwhile soul, when are those visits NOT of the SLOW DOWN quality?

I have said that when I am missing the moons, I'm not living right. I slowed down enough to use the moon. To not miss the moon. Robust night time ritual. Ended the day VERY calm and relaxed and property oriented in my head.

Sometimes what’s slowing down one day

may NOT be what’s slowing down the text.

music in the car: when I did listen to it, it used to be hype me up for whatever I'm on my way to, type stuff. During this, it's been a - SLOW ME DOWN for my life kind of soundtrack.

Energy to you.

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Things you could know about me:

take this out and make it a blog post on the website

order: newest adds at the top, older things at the bottom

(diamond as a shape is essentially 2 triangles you know)

Kym fact - I rarely wash my face. Definitely not an end of day or beginning of day skin care face thing person.

some plurals I don't spell right: leafs, lifes,

I don't have a lot of committed organization of my time. Every day is different and I decide what it is. AKA no 9-5 or anything like it or regular.

I love a good double meaning, just like I love a double negative!

a theme of character: Kym has a tendency of disdain for certain words. ( I should make that list.)
(STARTING THAT LIST: vacation, deserve, hope, need)
defining and qualifying are usually why words end up on this list.

Sunrises are Mom. Sunsets are Dad.

true crime podcasts affect my outlook on life

disdain for vaguity. vague is not nice

I'm a horror to say anything to some times

Mismatched shoes is a me thing; it is not a mistake I walked out the door with.

Watching a dog run on the beach is one of the purest sights of happiness I know.

I was not a whiskey drinker. I don't know when I become a whiskey drinker. I have hated whiskey and all dark liquor all my life. Now I drink old fashioneds. Who have I become?

You will often find me "wrapping my head around that good thought"

vague. I don't like vague. don't be vague with me, I won't be vague with you. at least not on purpose.

defines WEIGHT as: the quality of the quantity of matter you are carrying

I like to antagonize common sayings and typical perspectives

Everything is a choice and authenticity is supreme.

Reflecting on my life whether it's looking back at the last month or doing a "this time last year" thing, shorter or longer time frames, doing this at all is a reflection of who I am. That I care to consider who I am, who I have been, what I have done, so that I may use all of that to inform what I do and who I am in the present and the future. That I reflect is a reflection of who I am.

running with turtles

I know, I'm a horror to say anything to some times..

when all my identities are umbrellas

I love a good double negative!

Plan in quotes because I'm so averse to "plans" and "goals".

I chunk out my days, to the minute, in Gcal.

I love to putter so if it becomes "I puttered my life away" so be it.

I'm not a cherry picker, of anything. I like to use things that exist rather than start from new or scratch.

I am an ostrich about politics, news, current events, pop culture and media.

I dislike clichés and most positive quotes, under thought things meant well, commonly said quotes and phrases.

Don't tell me what to do, don't ask me "how how are you?" or say "I'm sorry for your loss" unless you want to annoy me or you really, really mean it. And know it can be hard to tell which it is, and I'm wrong not infrequently.

30 Day Challenges are my thing. I have a tendency to make things every day things. This is where 30 Day Challenges come from!

Like yourself. Know yourself. Express that self.
Think about things. Don't feel like you have to dance in the rain to have a good life.
Don't have a plan. Stand for what matters. Read when you want to. Don't smile when people tell you to.
Don't have goal. Tend plants. Leave marks. Do what you say. Change YOUR world. And your mind!
Be a friend and a daughter and a partner and a sister and a dog mom.
In a world full of "accept who you are" messages, don't forget to be a "work on that" kind of person.
Don't put kindness above truth. Try new things. Be honest. Live by ideals. Have some whimsy.
What you do for money matters; strive to like what you do for money. (job)
If you have a hobby you need a life.
Use what attracts you and let what you care about matter!

Peepers are my favorite sound.

Triangles are my favorite shape.

54 is my number.

I never need to talk but thank you for offering to listen.

If you say I'm overthinking it, I'll probably say you are underthinkig it.

why I do what I do: I want to "make you" THINK. I don't mind if your experience and perception of me "makes you" be more mindful, use your brain more, "think too much" or consider something more carefully, or differently, or moves you to be (more) thoughtful or intentional or authentic.

I am a hugger and I mean my hugs.

I don't like to have scheduled things. The days where I have something scheduled are a certain category of feeling. I'm not very fond of pre sign ups, committing to things in advance externally. My favorite days are the ones I call "blank slate days". Nothing scheduled, nothing formally EXTERNALLY committed (I am full of internal commitment and ideas all the time, so no day is truly uncommitted).

use the moons

I love rules and I am a ruler follower.

I like a cup to fill.

So which is it Kym. Do you like wide open clean slate no commitment things?
Or you "need" want and thrive in containers, defined spaces, rules and limits?

Geez what a walking contradiction. A biggest when to which Witch!?

SOC life - what you allow in, turns into what you spend your time on. Can you see it?

Tomb raider hot is my favorite kind of girl hot, my favorite hot to be.

Resources

A link list for quick and easy clicking.

Thank you for being here. Energy to you. 🔺
​
Ciao for now!

KG

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