If we grabbed coffee in August, September or October and you asked how I was doing, my answer would have been, “Life is full.” I’d filled every crevice of every day. Yet my soul felt empty.
Then mid-November my parents came to live with me. And my “full life” either had to be drained of non-essentials. There was no way I could keep the current pace and care for my ill parents.
Throughout this process, Erin Loechner’s book “Chasing Slow” sat on my bedside table. It’s the first book in over a year I’ve read start to finish. Her words helped guide me through my “pace altering journey”.
Whether you live a fast or slow life, you can chose to live that fast life slowly or that slow life quickly. . . I used to think the opposite of control is chaos. But it’s not. The opposite of control is surrender. . . We were never meant to change the pace. We were meant to surrender it.
In this episode Erin shares a bit of her story: her husband’s brain tumor, her struggle with panic attacks, and her journey to “life pace satisfaction”. May her words encourage you to seek God’s will for how to live your life. Trusting His pace over yours.
Connect with Erin:
What we chat about:
- The turning point when the man she loved was diagnosed with brain tumor.
- Choosing to no longer live in fear of her husband’s expiration date.
- The guilt we layer onto anxiety and panic attacks.
- Not just changing your pace, but changing how you see your pace.
- False idea that outside changes will change the inside.
- Letting yourself be a little uncomfortable with your circumstances.
- The metaphor of learning to surf and surrendering control.
- How “chasing slow” applies to motherhood.
- What makes a “good mom”
Links Mentioned:
- Mexican fisherman story posted in Jersey Mikes
How to listen to the podcast:
1.Listen on the blog. Click through to GodCenteredMom.com and click the play button at the beginning of this post.
2. Listen on your smartphone, iPad or iPod Touch – There are a lot of great podcasting apps. Apple has a free one (that I mentioned) in the app store, there is also one called Downcast. It allows you to search for shows, subscribe to them and even speed up the audio. If you don’t have an iDevice, you can listen via Stitcher.
3. Subscribe to the Podcast – access the podcast in iTunes (Click here to access via iTunes). You can also search for it on your smartphone app (like the ones listed above) and subscribe.
This podcast was so so good. I can relate to Erin – I had a very hard time being a mom after my first-born – letting go of being able to control everything, my day, my routine, my life. I was so independent and now had to succumb to the needs of someone else. That was very hard for me. And I had no idea if anything I was doing was right. I didn’t feel like a good mom. It has taken me quite some time to feel like I am a loving, good mom.
I also related to her (Erin) being a minimalist and wanting to throw everything out, but her children and husband being pack rats!
I received so much from this podcast. Thank you, Erin AND Heather for being you, for your time, and honesty. Opening yourselves up to us, allowing us to see you, your vulnerability. Thank you, thank you. xoxo
Wow! I am still in the middle of this podcast but had to comment and thank you both for this. I’m so relieved to hear of a designer who values her daughters “nature socks” clutter over having the perfectly designed home. I’ve been living in an uncomfortable ugly tiny house and had had to practice this. I used to spend so much time as a newlywed cleaning my condo and now I wish I could have that time back. I don’t want to spend all my time or energy decluttering and cleaning to the point of missing out on my relationships. Thanks for your wisdom on this and for sharing your heart and what you’ve learned with us. :))))