I’ll report later on the slow practice, but I deeply relate to so many things you mentioned. I tend to learn things a little slower but deeper, which has frustrated more than a few people who have had to train me on various tasks and procedures. I have always been the kid who asked “why?” And my own awesome therapist often reminds me that I can’t think through everything with my brain to avoid the heart processing. And finally, regarding books, I want to thank you for recommending “The Creative Act: A Way of Being” by Rick Rubin. A wonderful book!
I always enjoy practicing bass parts slowly. Making sure my left hand fingers are exactly where they need to be and negotiating the shifts and noticing all the balance and weight of my instrument as I shift through the positions and place my fingers.
I can identify with your visual processing challenge. An optometrist told me about a decade ago that I read slowly because my eyes dart left and right as I read. I can’t recall the name the assigned to my condition, but he said that Abraham Lincoln had the same issue. My challenges as a reader were compounded six years ago when I lost vision in my left eye due to a detached retina. Your essay today gave me new impetus to charge forward in an effort to keep reading despite the roadblocks in my path. Many thanks.
I have felt very non-visual and been a slow reader all of my life. Visualizations have not ever done much for me. I have had to center in my kinesthetic knowing. I am left with the curiosity about how you discovered your "visual processing challenge?" Do you care to share it with us? or PM me at revjuliamckay at gmail dot com
Also, I heard someone say recently that we will never read all of the books that we buy. Gurl-howdy, if that ain't the truth! But, I keep buying them and filling more book shelves. :)
Oh my. I just caught myself quickly scanning your post and then stopped to laugh. I have stacks of books by each chair waiting to be "sped read" Thanks for the reminder to slooow downnn
My life is often in slow motion, particularly when writing and in the zone where time flies. Found shortcuts like magazines, book reviews, movies, and eventually the web to learn more faster in short snippets. Blessed to read faster than my father, who probably had a condition long before named, but he persisted and much preferred newspapers. Nephew loves reading and finishes with comprehension in a fourth the time it would take me.
Recently googled careers with the longest lifespans and discovered for a large study in Amsterdam that teachers did best, followed by agriculture, healthcare, administrators, technicians, general, and transportation. Perhaps the best way to have more time to read is to widely share what you learn to help others.
Fondly remember a religious history professor talking about taking time when washing dishes to just experience the sensation of warm water and soap, which always made the task so much more pleasant. Thank you for the wonderful reminder of a wise professor.
Beautiful, Carry, thank you so much! I feel with your academic friend. I gave up reading books for a long while after my PhD. It’s probably called recovering reader or something. Thus I do not have books stacked everywhere, actually most are in boxes in the basement since our last move 😇
But I share the feeling of overwhelm by the sheer abundance of books. It is probably why I rather drink a coffee in a book store than scrolling the shelves. It is just too overwhelming. Who can every read all of this? Is it important? Do I have to read it all?
I think I stick to some old classics and try to read them “possibly more inwardly” as the spiritual writer Kierkegaard once put it. And I am grateful having discovered Substack. It is a different kind of writing and reading over here.
And yes to doing things more slowly and mindfully. Even the path of self development can put us in a frenzy trying to “achieve” something. Therefore I love to work with dreams. Dreams have their own pace and can’t be hurried in order to solve the riddle. The soul takes it’s time. Following her pace is what is needed.
Thank you for not only this encouraging piece but also for the opportunity you gave Denise and me to slow down at Shallowford Presbyterian’s “The Beautiful Not Yet” retreat this past Saturday. What a joyful and creative experience!
And so I set aside today’s to dos and look out my windows, past my windowsill arrangement of glass, glowing amber, greens, and blues. Outside this window hangs a ruby colored glass heart from Mexico, which continues Carrie’s message of love for self and the world. The sunlit bare limbs of the Japanese maple lift arms and bend lithe bodies. But, significantly, there are no “head” shapes in these trees. The message: think, plan and agonize less, breathe more. Thank you, Carrie!
I'm the one who feels the need to finish quickly - as if I'm in a race. I don't have trouble reading but I want to be on to the next book or next thing. I wonder if this has something to do with a lifetime of messages about not being good enough and questions about why I didn't do better. Everything was always measured against some impossible to achieve standard. 🤷
My life currently feels on pause as I recover from a total knee replacement. Part of me wants to zip through rehab (currently in a rehab facility) so I can get home to my puppies and my own bed. Common sense (and one of the physical therapists) says to take advantage of the pause and heal well so once I'm home I will be ready to take on the world again. I think I may just listen to common sense and the physical therapist and hope I'm able to drive in April to attend one of your concerts nearby. Namaste!
Thank you for your wise opinions. I almost always agree with your point of view (except for euchre). And I agree, unless you are a race car, speed is not the answer-understanding is
I wish every "yellow bird" at school grew up to become such a prolific poet and songwriter!
Speed is a bad measure of quality for actions which involve our hearts and minds.
This essay is beautiful, and in a sense, "it speaks to my condition".
***
My little practice: print out a long article and read it with pencil in hand instead of skimming it online. At work, be focused, immune to distractions, but not in a hurry. Take walks in the woods; nothing helps sort out thoughts better.
Tsundoku. There is a name for that gnawing pile of books. Thank you for the encouragement to slllooooowwwwww down!
I’ll report later on the slow practice, but I deeply relate to so many things you mentioned. I tend to learn things a little slower but deeper, which has frustrated more than a few people who have had to train me on various tasks and procedures. I have always been the kid who asked “why?” And my own awesome therapist often reminds me that I can’t think through everything with my brain to avoid the heart processing. And finally, regarding books, I want to thank you for recommending “The Creative Act: A Way of Being” by Rick Rubin. A wonderful book!
Thank you! My takeaway are three “C’s” you put out there but in a different order.
If we have the Courage
To make Connections
We find Community.
Also a good reminder:
Slow down, pay attention,
Move forward with intention
Capture the image, the message,
The meaning in each moment.
Thank you!
I always enjoy practicing bass parts slowly. Making sure my left hand fingers are exactly where they need to be and negotiating the shifts and noticing all the balance and weight of my instrument as I shift through the positions and place my fingers.
Carrie, what are reading “filters”?
I can identify with your visual processing challenge. An optometrist told me about a decade ago that I read slowly because my eyes dart left and right as I read. I can’t recall the name the assigned to my condition, but he said that Abraham Lincoln had the same issue. My challenges as a reader were compounded six years ago when I lost vision in my left eye due to a detached retina. Your essay today gave me new impetus to charge forward in an effort to keep reading despite the roadblocks in my path. Many thanks.
I have felt very non-visual and been a slow reader all of my life. Visualizations have not ever done much for me. I have had to center in my kinesthetic knowing. I am left with the curiosity about how you discovered your "visual processing challenge?" Do you care to share it with us? or PM me at revjuliamckay at gmail dot com
Also, I heard someone say recently that we will never read all of the books that we buy. Gurl-howdy, if that ain't the truth! But, I keep buying them and filling more book shelves. :)
Oh my. I just caught myself quickly scanning your post and then stopped to laugh. I have stacks of books by each chair waiting to be "sped read" Thanks for the reminder to slooow downnn
My life is often in slow motion, particularly when writing and in the zone where time flies. Found shortcuts like magazines, book reviews, movies, and eventually the web to learn more faster in short snippets. Blessed to read faster than my father, who probably had a condition long before named, but he persisted and much preferred newspapers. Nephew loves reading and finishes with comprehension in a fourth the time it would take me.
Recently googled careers with the longest lifespans and discovered for a large study in Amsterdam that teachers did best, followed by agriculture, healthcare, administrators, technicians, general, and transportation. Perhaps the best way to have more time to read is to widely share what you learn to help others.
Fondly remember a religious history professor talking about taking time when washing dishes to just experience the sensation of warm water and soap, which always made the task so much more pleasant. Thank you for the wonderful reminder of a wise professor.
Beautiful, Carry, thank you so much! I feel with your academic friend. I gave up reading books for a long while after my PhD. It’s probably called recovering reader or something. Thus I do not have books stacked everywhere, actually most are in boxes in the basement since our last move 😇
But I share the feeling of overwhelm by the sheer abundance of books. It is probably why I rather drink a coffee in a book store than scrolling the shelves. It is just too overwhelming. Who can every read all of this? Is it important? Do I have to read it all?
I think I stick to some old classics and try to read them “possibly more inwardly” as the spiritual writer Kierkegaard once put it. And I am grateful having discovered Substack. It is a different kind of writing and reading over here.
And yes to doing things more slowly and mindfully. Even the path of self development can put us in a frenzy trying to “achieve” something. Therefore I love to work with dreams. Dreams have their own pace and can’t be hurried in order to solve the riddle. The soul takes it’s time. Following her pace is what is needed.
Bless you for this lovely inspiration 🥰
Thank you for not only this encouraging piece but also for the opportunity you gave Denise and me to slow down at Shallowford Presbyterian’s “The Beautiful Not Yet” retreat this past Saturday. What a joyful and creative experience!
And so I set aside today’s to dos and look out my windows, past my windowsill arrangement of glass, glowing amber, greens, and blues. Outside this window hangs a ruby colored glass heart from Mexico, which continues Carrie’s message of love for self and the world. The sunlit bare limbs of the Japanese maple lift arms and bend lithe bodies. But, significantly, there are no “head” shapes in these trees. The message: think, plan and agonize less, breathe more. Thank you, Carrie!
I'm the one who feels the need to finish quickly - as if I'm in a race. I don't have trouble reading but I want to be on to the next book or next thing. I wonder if this has something to do with a lifetime of messages about not being good enough and questions about why I didn't do better. Everything was always measured against some impossible to achieve standard. 🤷
My life currently feels on pause as I recover from a total knee replacement. Part of me wants to zip through rehab (currently in a rehab facility) so I can get home to my puppies and my own bed. Common sense (and one of the physical therapists) says to take advantage of the pause and heal well so once I'm home I will be ready to take on the world again. I think I may just listen to common sense and the physical therapist and hope I'm able to drive in April to attend one of your concerts nearby. Namaste!
Thank You. I love your music and songs as well as your fantastic insight..
Dave
in Manitoba
Thank you for your wise opinions. I almost always agree with your point of view (except for euchre). And I agree, unless you are a race car, speed is not the answer-understanding is
I wish every "yellow bird" at school grew up to become such a prolific poet and songwriter!
Speed is a bad measure of quality for actions which involve our hearts and minds.
This essay is beautiful, and in a sense, "it speaks to my condition".
***
My little practice: print out a long article and read it with pencil in hand instead of skimming it online. At work, be focused, immune to distractions, but not in a hurry. Take walks in the woods; nothing helps sort out thoughts better.