Have you ever wished you could slow down the daily grind—and even find a way to enjoy it? All too often, the hectic pace of modern life turns our households into a blur, leaving many parents—and kids—feeling depleted and disconnected. Enter Slow Family Living, an inspiring guide for parents who want to rediscover the meaning, comfort, and contentment found in the day to day of family life. Offering 75 simple ideas for reconnecting, this upbeat and invaluable resource can help turn even the most bustling of times into an opportunity to create a moment of calm—and a connection that will last a lifetime. From holidays and other stressful occasions to bedtime, vacations, and everything in between, Slow Family Living will help even the most harried parents and kids pause, reflect, and find joy, satisfaction, and inspiration in each other.

A parent’s guide to cultivating an unhurried lifestyle and education that help their children thrive In a culture that prizes productivity, efficiency, and success, it’s easy to feel as though we’re constantly falling short and to lose sight of joy. The homeschool community is not exempt from this pressure, but longtime educator Leslie Martino shows parents how to slow down to recapture the delight and depth that are hallmarks of meaningful learning. In The Joy of Slow, she offers practical guidance on: creating daily rhythms that celebrate the ordinary and make space for spontaneity supporting children as they explore personal interests and engage in self-directed learning tracking students’ progress in ways that might be overlooked by traditional assessments prioritizing connection with other people and the natural world While parents of young children are more likely to embrace a slow childhood that nurtures wonder and imagination, panic often sets in as kids grow older, and parents worry about preparing them for the world beyond school. These fears are exacerbated by learning challenges, unspoken competition among peers, and standardized assessments. The Joy of Slow offers a much-needed reset, inspiring parents to prioritize the needs of each individual child and to help them find renewed freedom and passion.

Chasing Slow models HGTV star Erin Loechner's journey to help you break out of the faster-better-stronger trap and make small changes to refresh your perspective, renew your priorities, and shift your focus to what matters most. You're here, but you want to be there. So you spend your life narrowing this divide, and you call this your race, your journey, your path. You live your days tightening your boot straps, wiping the sweat from your brow, chasing undiscovered happiness just around the bend. And on and on you run. Viral sensation and HGTV.com star Erin Loechner knows about the chase. Before turning 30, she'd earned the title "The Nicest Girl Online" as she was praised for her authentic voice and effortless style. Her HGTV web show garnered over one million fans worldwide, and her client list includes Walt Disney World, IKEA, Martha Stewart and Home Depot. The New York Times applauded her, her friends and church admired her, and her husband and baby adored her. She had arrived at the ultimate destination. So why did she feel so lost? Through a series of steep climbs--her husband's brain tumor, bankruptcy, family loss, and public criticism--Erin learns just how much strength it takes to surrender it all, and to veer right into grace. In Chasing Slow, Erin upgrades her life through downsizing--her stuff, her obligations, her fears, her personal metric of "perfect." And ultimately, her invitation becomes yours: to turn away from the fast and frenzy, and find freedom in a new-fashioned lifestyle defined by grace. Life's answers are not always hidden where they seem. It's time to venture off the beaten path to see that we’ve already been given everything we need. We've already arrived. You see? You'll see.

Overwhelmed by electronic gadgets? Buried under an avalanche of e-mails? Juggling too many tasks and responsibilities? Desperately in need of a deep breath and a time-out? For all of us who answer yes to any of these questions, help is on the way. Getting to the heart of our hassled and over-scheduled existence, Christine Louise Hohlbaum cheerfully investigates 101 ways to increase our quality of life and productivity by reevaluating how we perceive and use time. Everyone has their own personal bank account of time, and while we cannot control time itself, we can manage the activities with which we fill the time we have available to us. The Power of Slow gives readers practical, concise directions to change the relationship they have with time and debunks the myths of multitasking, speed, and urgency as the only ways to efficiency. Tips include: · When working on a project on your computer, close all the windows, with the exception of the one you need to do your job. · Learn to say no in a polite and constructive way to favors, invitations, and requests. · Manage your own expectations, as well as those of others, by clearly stating what is possible in the time frame given. · Declare gadget-free zones (both geographical and temporal) to really enjoy your leisure time. · Know when your plate is full. · Make commitments to difficult tasks in five-minute increments and gradually increase the increments. · Save your most favorite or the easiest tasks for last to avoid procrastination. The Power of Slow will help readers identify areas in need of improvement and show them how to become more efficient and less frazzled at work and at home---and live a better, more balanced life.

This guide explores visible mending techniques in both hands-on projects and thoughtful insight about how mending relates to mindful well-being. Mending Matters explores sewing on two levels: First, it includes more than twenty projects that showcase visible mending—styles that are edgy, modern, and bold, yet draw on traditional stitching. It does all this with just four simple mending techniques: exterior patches, interior patches, slow stitches, darning, and weaving. In addition, the book addresses the way mending leads to a more mindful relationship to fashion and to overall well-being. In essays that accompany each how-to chapter, Katrina Rodabaugh explores mending as a metaphor for appreciating our own naturally flawed selves. She also examines the ways in which mending teaches us new skills, self-reliance, and confidence, all gained from making things with our own hands.

Make Slow Living Part of Your Everyday! “Slow Living is a work of art…I observed a sense of calm within myself as I read its pages and appreciated the beautiful pictures.” —Andrea Henkels, author of Herman Heals His Heart Living peacefully is within reach if you slow down your life. With Slow Living, you too can embrace simple living and mindfulness for peace-induced days! Looking for peace and happiness? Book a personal reading hour with Slow Living, your guide on how to slow down your life and live peacefully. Helena Woods, author and creator of popular YouTube channel Simple Joys, reveals the wisdom she has learned by moving abroad from the US and living a slower life in France. With beautiful prose and original photography, she provides inspiration and guidance to create a simple living environment wherever you are. Slow Living is for anyone looking to simplify life. Personal growth books for women tend to leave out men and children, but this book was intentionally crafted with everyone in mind! If you're looking for how to improve yourself and how to get into simple living, then this is the guide for you! For many, a slow European lifestyle seems out of reach, but with the direction in this book, readers are able to craft this lifestyle for themselves anywhere, anytime. Inside, you’ll find: Ways to value quiet moments, which bring simple joys to your life How slow living takes root when less becomes more in your home A guide on how to simplify your everyday life for mental clarity How to create routines that enrich your mind and feed your soul If you like books for homebodies or if you enjoyed Slow, Essentialism, or Simple Pleasures, you’ll love Slow Living.

Remember letters? They were good, weren’t they? The thrill of receiving that battered envelope, all the better for the wait . . . In this richly entertaining book, paper geek John O’Connell puts forward a passionate case for the value of letter-writing in a distracted, technology-obsessed world. Drawing on great examples from the past, he shows that the best letters have much to teach us – Samuel Richardson’s ‘familiar letters’; Wilfred Owen’s outpourings to his mother; the sly observational charms of Jane Austen. And in doing so he reminds us of the kind of letters we would all write if we had the time – the perfect thank-you letter, a truly empathetic condolence letter, and of course the heartfelt declaration of love. Was there a Golden Age of Letters? Why is handwriting so important? Can we ever regain the hallowed slowness of the pre-Twitter era? In answering these questions O’Connell shows how a proper letter is an object to be cherished, its crafting an act of exposure which gives shape and meaning to the chaos of life. *** ‘The nib touches the paper. And instinctively I follow the old formula: address in top right-hand corner; date just beneath it on the left-hand side. My writing looks weird. I hand-write so infrequently these days that I’ve developed a graphic stammer - my brain’s way of registering its impatience and bemusement. What are you doing? Just send an email! I haven’t got all night . . .’

Feeling overwhelmed by that never-ending to-do list? Are you sick of hustling *ahem* struggling to succeed? Depressed by the thought of your life being whittled down to how much you can get done in a day? Tired of always feeling like you have to earn a nap or vacation? Slow The Fuck Down: 30 Reasons Why Your Joy Matters More Than Your To-Do List is your guide to tapping out of the productivity = worthiness cycle and centering your life around your joy.Inside you'll find 30 reasons why slowing down will improve the quality of your life, 30 ways you can slow down and enjoy your life without giving yourself a panic attack and 30 journaling prompts to explore your relationship with busyness, hustle and productivityIt's time to slow down and enjoy your one sacred life you beautiful, busy idiot.

We live in the age of speed. We strain to be more efficient, to cram more into each minute, each hour, each day. Since the Industrial Revolution shifted the world into high gear, the cult of speed has pushed us to a breaking point. Consider these facts: Americans on average spend seventy-two minutes of every day behind the wheel of a car, a typical business executive now loses sixty-eight hours a year to being put on hold, and American adults currently devote on average a mere half hour per week to making love. Living on the edge of exhaustion, we are constantly reminded by our bodies and minds that the pace of life is spinning out of control. In Praise of Slowness traces the history of our increasingly breathless relationship with time and tackles the consequences of living in this accelerated culture of our own creation. Why are we always in such a rush? What is the cure for time sickness? Is it possible, or even desirable, to slow down? Realizing the price we pay for unrelenting speed, people all over the world are reclaiming their time and slowing down the pace -- and living happier, healthier, and more productive lives as a result. A Slow revolution is taking place. Here you will find no Luddite calls to overthrow technology and seek a preindustrial utopia. This is a modern revolution, championed by cell-phone using, e-mailing lovers of sanity. The Slow philosophy can be summed up in a single word -- balance. People are discovering energy and efficiency where they may have been least expected -- in slowing down. In this engaging and entertaining exploration, award-winning journalist and rehabilitated speedaholic Carl Honoré details our perennial love affair with efficiency and speed in a perfect blend of anecdotal reportage, history, and intellectual inquiry. In Praise of Slowness is the first comprehensive look at the worldwide Slow movements making their way into the mainstream -- in offices, factories, neighborhoods, kitchens, hospitals, concert halls, bedrooms, gyms, and schools. Defining a movement that is here to stay, this spirited manifesto will make you completely rethink your relationship with time.