How slowing down is helping us get focused

Sharing this past weekend's newsletter - we thought it might resonate with a few more folks.

For those of you who missed our last newsletter, the TL;DR of it was that we’ve hosted two BYOBooks to savour the summer heat and beat the existential dread of our current times. And my gosh, we can’t tell you how goooooood it’s felt to gather in community and just be with a bunch of people who are reading and chilling, sometimes napping or chatting, enjoying time under the trees.?

Actually, a report in the New Yorker states “Reading has been shown to put our brains into a pleasurable trance-like state, similar to meditation, and it brings the same health benefits of deep relaxation and inner calm. Regular readers sleep better, have lower stress levels, higher self-esteem, and lower rates of depression than non-readers.”

Sounds like a miracle drug. Sign us up! ;)

Jokes aside, simply within our small team dynamic, we’ve felt the benefits on our minds, spirits and energy. With calmer nervous systems, we’ve been able to communicate from a more honest place, make more aligned decisions and plan more intentionally for our next steps.

These days, it’s tough not to make choices from a place of heightened stress, worry and anxiety… When we’re making decisions from that dysregulated state, who are we benefitting?

That’s not a facetious or unanswerable question. We shape businesses, the economy and our societies by buying, voting, and making choices from a place of fear. Entire industries are built on the false narrative that we will rectify our anxiety by consuming more, more, more, or by being more, more, more like this celebrity or influencer.?

Bayo Akomolafe (who we quoted last week) speaks of the notion that often the way we respond to crisis is the crisis repeating itself. The way we respond to trauma is the trauma being perpetuated.?

We really had to sit with that statement for a while (as we often do with Bayo’s words). Think about how that notion relates to ever-inflating police budgets, to how we care for elders in our health care system, to our filled to the brim classrooms and overworked educators, to our collective approach to climate change…

Companies, structures and systems that thrive in anxiety, division and distress will be dismantled only by our opposing energy and efforts. Nothing is immovable. No system is forever.

We influence and impact the macro direction and state of things but focusing in on our micro states, on our communities and immediate relationships. How would our relationships, companies and communities shift if we prioritized moments of slowness, intentionality, sharing and interconnectedness? Again, this isn’t a facetious question… just imagine how different things would look and feel.

If the last few weeks have taught us anything, even the simple act of spending time reading with people, enjoying the feeling of the grass below us and the clouds above us, has had a massively positive impact on us and our ability to show up to the work. And that’s just one small example…

This is an invitation to focus your energy towards the areas and relationships where you do have influence and to do something that feels right for you. At the very least, you have our blessing to disconnect and go read a book.

This is also an invitation to come be in community with us. As well as more events like BYOBook (which we’ll keep you in the loop on!), we’re hosting our second cohort of The Seed which starts September 23rd. Simply put, we cannot wait!

The Seed is a 5 week long interactive learning experience for people wanting to build cultures/relationships/teams deeply rooted in belonging. During The Seed, we share concepts tied to identity, power, values of dominance (and how to shift away from them), equitable systems-change, communities of care and practices of belonging. We engage in these concepts in a way that feels healthy for our minds, bodies and spirits - this means, moments of mindfulness, deep self-reflection and lots of open community collaboration.

Come plant seeds with us,

DJ & Erin

p.s. If this speaks to you and you'd like to be kept in the loop on our upcoming events and community offerings, sign up for our newsletter here!