November is for paying attention
Midterm elections, longing for winter, and uncles who tell the truth
Dearest Reader,
Welcome to November.
As I get older, I’m coming into greater appreciation for this month. As a child, it was simply a roadblock to Christmastime. I just wanted to get through it. But now, it feels more like a gentle welcome into all the quiet and coldness winter has to offer.
Where I live, the coolness of fall has been hit or miss. Some mornings and nights, the chill is refreshing and crisp. By midday, however, we’re met with a warmth that rivals the hottest spring days. I resent it at times, the warmth of Georgia’s October. My husband reminds me, however, that colder days and all-day bonfires are on their way. I can’t wait.
My theme for this November is “Pay attention.” Simple enough, in theory. A bit more nuanced in practice.
A few weeks ago I was listening to my favorite podcast and they were discussing the upcoming midterm elections. I’m not very active on social media right now, so most of my information about the world comes from podcasts, news notifications on my phone, and from whatever stories have piqued my husband’s interest for the week. As the podcasters discussed the election and the quality of the candidates, I found myself wondering, “What does a more beautiful way look like during election season?”
Depending on how you define slow living, there are at least a couple of ways to view election season with the slow, simple, and Sacred in mind.
One way is to opt-out of the process all together. I know many homestead-minded people who believe voting is futile. They focus instead on building community with the land and with neighbors. They believe resilience and protection will not come from a government leader sitting in an office miles away, but that resilience and protection are cultivated when we know our neighbor’s names, when we share what we produce, when we are generous with our tractors and hay balers, and when we go door-to-door to find out whose goat is wandering up the road. Voting isn’t a ballot you cast once every few years. Voting is what you do with the energy afforded to you every day.
While it’s not the entirety of my view on voting, it is one I respect. What good is voting every few years if the days in-between them are not spent loving and serving others in tangible ways?
Another way to view election season is to opt-all-the-way-in. It is to make sure you’re registered. It’s to do your research and to know which candidates reflect your values and which do not. It’s to set aside time to research your polling place and to vote early if possible.
In 2008, I was eligible to participate in my first election: Barack Obama versus John McCain. Even though I was eligible, I didn’t vote that year. I was a clueless college freshman and, well, I simply wasn’t paying attention. This wasn’t a big deal to me, but it became a big deal when one of my uncles caught wind of the fact that I hadn’t cast my ballot. He was not happy. While I don’t remember every word he said, I do remember him reminding me, “Bethaney, your ancestors fought tooth and nail for you to have the right to vote. Don’t you ever miss an election again.”
I haven’t missed an election since. History has funny way of shaping our priorities. He was right. The ability to vote is a privilege and I’ve learned not to take it for granted.
A more beautiful way to move through an election season is to slow down, pay attention, and act with intention.
Slow living is the choice to disentangle oneself from the frenetic, anxious, production-oriented pace of our time in order to make room for knowing God, ourselves, and one another. Perhaps obviously, literally slowing down is one of the key practices of this way of life, be it taking a moment to catch your breath or setting the gaze of your eyes on a treetop off in the distance. Slowing down looks like reading one more book with the kiddos before bed, or savoring a few moments of connection with your partner before you head off to work for the day.
There is no one way to cultivate a slow life, but it does boil down to two things: attention and intention.
Attention asks, what are you noticing? Where is your focus? What has has your gaze?
Intention asks, where are you going? What are you doing? Who do you hope to become?
When we slow down enough, we remember who we are. We are empowered to make choices about the kind of world we want to live in, and whether or not our actions are leading us toward or away from our vision. What we pay attention to profoundly shapes direction. Reclaiming our attention is one of the first steps towards leading a slower, more grounded, and more connected life.
Which brings me back to my theme for this November, which is to pay attention. A commitment to slow living doesn’t mean ignoring the realities of the world. A commitment to slow living means paying attention to what’s happening in the world and choosing what to do in light of what we see.
A commitment to slow living is also about paying attention to what’s happening in one’s soul and in one’s body as you move through the day. Our intuition speaks in subtle, embodied ways. This time of year is perfect for making room to turn a bit inward and to listen.
What has your gaze this November? It doesn’t have to be the election season. Anything goes. Let me know in the comments below.
My gaze is my breath. Intentional somatic breath.
My gaze is on building more intentional daily rhythms vs. my current “wake up, work, veg out, sleep.”