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

Friday October 2, 2026

1 PM

Greetings Thinkers,

Here in the afternoon because I had out things this morning. Back now doing this before some more out things.

What to think about today? And how is it altered by not being what I was thinking about this morning?

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

If you hear a tree falling in the forest,
are you near enough that it could kill you?

A scary thing happened to me yesterday. I was working outside in the driveway, and I started to hear the sound of a tree falling.

Do you know what that sounds like? HOW do you know what that sounds like?

I'm not sure I can explain how I know what that sounds like, but I can tell you, I knew what the sound was when I started hearing it. And you know that's not always the case. Sometimes you hear a sound and you're not sure what it is and it takes some time and more listening before you figure it out. This was not that.

The sounds I heard, I knew immediately - that's a tree about to fall. I heard those sounds while standing in the middle of hundreds of trees. A forest. I live in one.

I immediately was looking up and all around trying ot figure out WHERE it was coming from. Simultaneously knowing I didn't have a lot of time to figure it out. NOT SLOW. Trees do not fall down slow.

It sounded close enough, I knew it could be falling ON me or on something important. I felt fear.

seconds later I knew where the tree was falling because it fell less than 3 car lengths from where I was standing. I saw the whole thing. I felt relief.

And then fear again. Shook. It wasn't me but it easily could have been me. I still live in a forest and everything I own is under all these trees. Not news to me, but then again I have never been so close a witness to one coming down.

Experiencing the sound of a tree coming down beside you... where's the slow in that?

I still have August and September to do while living in October.

Funny note: Oura suggesting activities for the day (like workouts to input to its system) - “maybe housework” is usually one for me. 12 mins of “maybe housework” / "maybe yardwork", multiple times and increments throughout the day. Um Oura.. that's my whole day. Count the whole day as "maybe housework" , much longer then 12, 10, 19.5 minute increments

.

Day 11 of the Slow Down Challenge, 30 days of Slow Down.

Things I did to slow down yesterday:

Things that have a quality of slow down.

1. Hearing a Carolina wren and knowing it's a Carolina wren.
2. Maybe slowing down is not texting too casually... this is NOT me condemning texting as a means of communication. I rarely agree with that whole "it got lost in translation because it was by text" thing! And I am wondering if we get so casual in our texts that maybe it's not a good thing. Like if you text someone about something and then you aren't interested or willing to have a bigger conversation about it. Now the other person is interested and you're not available. Why did you send it in the first place? I did this to my Mom this day, thus these thoughts. Maybe slowing down isn't texting so casually...
3. called my Mom again. This time from stationary; I was not driving. And actually she called me, but I offered it up. Maybe calling my Mom daily is a slow down thing overall.
4. I ate fresh leafs 2 days in a row!
5. Slowed down and sat by a fire
6. Talked plans. Birthday plans. Size of our family plans.
7. moments I noticed I DID not slow down, FAILED to slow down
   1. I did not slow down when Joey was leaving. I should have and did not. Noted.
8. drank a glass of wine but then did NOT make the old fashioned to follow. Slowed down on the drinking!
9. things I did in real time: didn't write any of these down or they are within the above.

the tree that fell. like pictures sometimes do, it didn't do it justice. the horizontal one in the woods if you zoom in

🔺

KG

​All the emails in a list ​

standouts / other thoughts

Do you capitalize the seasons? Is it Fall or is it fall?

Is noticing, slow?
Stop to smell the roses and slow down to see your friends and cohabitants. (animals and bugs that are "YOUR" animals and bugs)

Crazy from scratch.

quote(s) to consider

““Some things become visible only below a certain speed.”

​
words of the slow

unhurried — proceeding without haste
deliberate — intentional and considered rather than hurried
​
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.

Do slow and calm go in an equation together?

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

Seems making time for people I care about is a theme here. Maybe I do it when I'm not in slow down mode, maybe I'm doing it more in slow down mode.

I felt slowed down and not behind. That was a noted moment.

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

I don't eat the vegetables right away. I buy things and then save them for later until they go bad. Goes for fruit too. I just buy and eat less fruit than vegetables .

(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.

• Exhibit: the: "how do you decide what you do and don't express" doozy
• ​Kymology,com
• ​Substack​
• ​Kymology Youtube​
• what does it mean when Kym sends you a triangle (put a LINK here KG!)

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

KG

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