“Kyle is slow at everything in life, except running.” — My Mom (maybe 15 years ago)
Thanks, Mom! Well, at this point in my life, I’m now officially slow at everything (including running). So, I guess that finally makes me qualified to write about this topic.
Hi, I’m Kyle.
As recently as a couple years ago, you would have found the old me working 60-80 work weeks, consumed by busyness and anxiety, and trying to offset my hard work by telling myself “I deserve this” while buying a sports car and McMansion in the suburbs.
But in May 2018, I became a corporate dropout and quit my six-figure, 9-to-5 job — and nearly 11-year career in brand advertising and digital marketing. I’m now downshifting to slow and simple living. And, the car and house will be out of here soon too.
Why? Let’s back up.
In November 2015, I had an existential crisis. The crazy hours at work finally broke me.
This is when the questions started. And I questioned everything — everything I’d ever known, believed in, and thought was true.
I struggled every single day with the new information I was learning (awareness) vs. how I was living (action). I went deep on personal purpose and the current epidemics of busyness and unconscious consumption.
This was the beginning of the end of my glorification of busy. And the beginning of my awakening to intentional living.
Previously, I had no idea there was another way (or a way out) of how I had been living. I had followed the typical path in Western society: go to school, get a job, and then get another better job, and then get another better job that pays more, etc. I followed this path without questioning a thing for over a decade. Sports car and suburb McMansion included. Totally guilty of lifestyle inflation.
But, more and more things and experiences offered no long-term fulfillment. I was more miserable than ever. Many people already know money can’t buy happiness, but knowing and doing are two different things. I thought I knew too, but it took me doing and living it to really learn. So, what was missing?
I realized things and experiences were really just band-aid solutions. What I really wanted was to own my time and live my newly self-created purpose. There’s one quote that I keep coming back to that I believe sums everything up for me:
I’ve learned that there is nothing more consistent with unhappiness than spending your time in a way that doesn’t serve who you are. — Scott Dinsmore
Since late 2015, I’ve been working on many different aspects of intentional, simple, and slow living: downshifting, minimalism, digital minimalism, voluntary simplicity, and conscious consumption.
While the minimalism trend has gained mainstream attention, it’s really only one area of simple living. And, people often refer to minimalism only in the materialism sense (focused on physical stuff and money). There’s much more to be gained by opening your mind to all aspects of simple and slow living (more focused on time and energy).
I’m now dedicating my time and energy to sharing the life-changing benefits of simple and slow living with as many people as possible. This site exists to share everything I’ve learned and everything I’m still exploring with you. I truly believe I’ve discovered a secret of living a purposeful, balanced, peaceful life. But really, ancient wisdom and modern research have known this “secret” for a long time.
To live voluntarily…is to live conscientiously and deliberately, and to live more simply is to unencumber oneself in all aspects of life in order to ‘(meet) life face to face.’ In short, voluntary simplicity is ‘outwardly more simple and inwardly more rich.’
I want to meet life face to face.
Welcome to Sloww
If you’ve made it here, you are likely in one of three places in your life:
- You’re overwhelmed by the fast pace of modern life and just started searching for solutions. Welcome!
- You’ve already had the “aha” moment: you’ve fully acknowledged the tension between a fast modern life of endless consumption and the peace of a paced life. You’re working to adopt more aspects of slow living.
- You’re already deep into slow living and just keeping an eye out for ways to continually improve or engage with the slow and simple living communities.
No matter where you are in your journey, I’ll be here to help you live slowly in a fast world — to help you design a lighter life.
Slow living isn’t about doing everything in life as slowly as possible. It’s about doing everything at the right speed. It’s about saying “no” to the things that don’t add value to your life so you can fully say “yes” to the things that do. It’s living an unbusy life that has space and margin for what’s most important to you. It’s realizing that the constant cycle of more and work/spend/repeat isn’t adding to your life. It’s finding the more in less. It’s accepting and learning to love your own personal definition of enough.
It’s not about withdrawing from everyday life and backtracking to a simpler time; it’s incorporating slow living principles that have worked for thousands of years to live better in today’s world.
My goal is for this site to become a trusted resource for you on your journey. The best way to stay in the loop is to follow socially @SlowwCo or subscribe via email. And, the best posts to get started are:
- What is Downshifting? How to Transition into Simple Living
- Slow Living 101: What is Slow Living?
- Slow Living 201: A Deep Dive into Slow Living & The Slow Movement
- Slow Living 301: How to Start a Slow Living Lifestyle
Oh, just a couple more things
I’m in my thirties and living in Kansas City with my wife and our two (bad) dachshunds.
If you ever want to see what I’m working on, visit my “Now” page.
And, if you wonder how I’m monetarily funding life for the indefinite future, check out my intro post on FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) and how I believe money can buy you freedom at a younger age (vs. spending it on things or experiences).
Go with the Sloww,
Kyle Kowalski
Founder & Writer
