Slow and Steady

I want to live in Leisure World. I think it is hilarious that there is a place actually called Leisure World. A whole planned community focused on leisure. Apparently, I have to be retired or wealthy or both to qualify. How do I find a bit of leisure amidst the spinning riot of my day? I am so tightly budgeted for time. I think leisure activities are the greatest luxury. Just lounging on the sofa, not quite napping, is delicious. I like to doodle. I like to tweeze my eyebrows. I like to change the sheets on my bed and then take a mid-day nap. Hmmm. Napping is a common theme in my ideas of leisure.

I love to quilt. I love shopping for fabric and selecting colors. Total immersion into a project is uncommon for me. I usually have to wedge any kind of hobby around all of my other obligations. I like leisurely cooking like canning jam or baking bread. These are things I cannot “hurry up and finish”. To do somethings the proper way, I must do them at what feels like a snail’s pace.

Long ago, when I was about 10 years old, I started a needle point project. Looking back, I think it was a very ambitious project for my age and skill level. My mother was patient and encouraging. The panel was turned into a pillow that had a turtle on it with the motto, “Slow and steady wins the race”. Each square of the turtle’s shell was a different type of knot or stitch. It is ironic that my youngest child is all about turtles by no real effort of my own.

How do I recapture that luxury of unfettered, uncommitted time? To dawdle, to linger, to lounge. To sit and pet my cat. To play a game of chess. Oh, to just pause, to hesitate and exhale.

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