The Joy of Slowing Down

Hi guys! I had big ole plans to do What I Ate Wednesday – Birthday Edition. But then I forgot to take a picture of half the food I ate yesterday 😂 I assure you there was lots of sushi. Oh and vegan cookie dough ice cream from the Van Leeuwen truck which was conveniently parked outside my apartment!

Thank you thank you thank you for all the kind birthday wishes. There’s nothing quite like a birthday to make you feel grateful for the people in your life.

Photo Credit: Alexis Damen

How I spent my 27th birthday

I’ve lucked out over the past few years and have managed to avoid working on my birthday EVERY year since I turned 19. Thank you, grad school semester being OVER!

When I thought about how I wanted to spend my birthday this year, I realized what I really wanted was to slow down. And not answer emails.

Usually my birthday is a frenzy of squeezing in my favorite workouts, a trapeze class, meals with friends and a Broadway show at night.

Yesterday I decided to take it slow. Okay so I still hit up Uplift for my free birthday workout. And I still went to a Broadway show with Jeremy at night (Amelie was SO cute). But instead of running from one activity to another, I took the day at a more leisurely pace. I got a glorious massage. Sat in Washington Square Park for a while, reading and enjoying the weather. And successfully only answered one email all day.

Learning how to slow down

I’m aware that yesterday was a special scenario. It’s not every day I can just not work. But it made me realize that I should be finding these simple ways to slow down every day.

I don’t need to cram in every. activity. ever. every day. It’s okay to say no to events and invites, even if it’s for no good reason. And if I go 24 hours without answering emails, the world will not explode.