I’ve been practicing living “slower” for a lot of this year. Slower to get pretty much everywhere—to decisions, to commitments, to “arriving” at where I’ve been trying to get, asap, for such a long time. You know the place… the race.
My nervous system has been jacked for years, so less than “go-more-now-now” has been slightly confusing to my system. And actual stillness… well that’s been just… disorienting. What I thought was north turned out to be south, what I thought mattered so much just isn’t the point.
Slower can be terrifying. I highly recommend it.
My pace of work (that’s pretty-speak for workaholism), has been a speed-skate over the dark patches of my self: my fear, my wounds, and my tremulous self worth. Which is to say, I’ve been working my ass off to avoid much of my humanity. Seems to be a universal part of our condition.
I am here to testify:
When you meet your Humanity you will meet your Holiness. There is so much freedom in the flow.
You are vast. You have to slowwww down to meet that kind of wholeness.
You have to breathe to tap your true life force—to FEEL Creation carrying you. So many of us are breathless, panting hard to prove our worth. It’s not passionate, it’s punishing.
Just slow things down and it becomes more beautiful.
—David Lynch
Without the speed addiction, it’s you and your sh-t (compost) in slower than usual motion—which is not easy. And! It’s also you and your spectacular, burning Light. You and your broken, but so much more effectual, heart. It’s you and your past and your desires colliding with the power of presence. It’s you and your expanding bravery questioning every mis-truth that you’ve ever believed.
Slower is brave. Slower is flow. Slower is Faith. Slower, as I’ve come to discover, is Love.
It will not break your spirit, it will break down your addictions. Slower is not robbing you of having your deep desires being fulfilled, it’s helping you to be there—really be there—so you can see them right in front of you.
Slowly,
Danielle LaPorte is an invited member of Oprah’s SuperSoul 100, a group who, in Oprah Winfrey’s words, “is uniquely connecting the world together with a spiritual energy that matters.” She is author of White Hot Truth: Clarity for keeping it real on your spiritual path—from one seeker to another. The Fire Starter Sessions, and The Desire Map: A Guide To Creating Goals With Soul—the book that has been translated into 8 languages, evolved into a yearly day planner system, a top 10 iTunes app, and an international workshop program with licensed facilitators in 15 countries. Named one of the “Top 100 Websites for Women” by Forbes, millions of visitors go to DanielleLaPorte.com every month for her daily #Truthbombs and what’s been called “the best place online for kickass spirituality.” A speaker, a poet, a painter, and a former business strategist and Washington-DC think tank exec, Entrepreneur Magazine calls Danielle, “equal parts poet and entrepreneurial badass…edgy, contrarian…loving and inspired.” Her charities of choice are Eve Ensler’s VDay: a global movement to end violence against women and girls, and charity: water, setting out to bring safe drinking water to everyone in the world. She lives in Vancouver, BC with her favourite philosopher, her son. You can find her @daniellelaporte and just about everywhere on social media.
