We Owe Ourselves a Slower Pace

Plus what's to come with Trail Towns

Curious about the image? Keep reading…

Hey there. How’s your day going? How’s your week going?

If you’re like most everyone else I know, you may be feeling a bit squeezed right now. At the exact time that we want to slow down to mark the winter solstice and honor our own biological need to rest, we are rushing all around preparing for Christmas, Hanukkah, and year end deadlines.

First, let’s offer ourselves some grace here. We have a lot of professional and personal responsibilities. And we are generally trying to get things done for good reasons. But can we agree to slow down just a little? To not blink and miss this special time of year? To recognize that we are running from one meeting to the next all year long and maybe we can just relax our expectations a little in this moment?

For me, that looks like sending this impromptu message instead of the one I had planned. For a while now, I’ve been planning a post that focuses on questions people ask me about Trail Towns. I’m exited to get that post out there, but have to recognize that very few people are clamoring for a community development blog post this week 😜. Instead, you might want to be out there taking part in community…whether that’s supporting small businesses, gathering around the yule log, or whatever else nourishes you.

So, friends, take care of what you must and know that most things can wait. But we only get these early days of winter (and the winter holidays) once a year.

Sending love and warmth to you all, especially those of you who are dealing with hardship this year,

Amy

About the Image

Believe it or not, this image is what prompted me to slow down and reflect. I popped open a notebook and landed on a page from January 2021. I had clipped this photo of pelicans in flight at that time. I don’t recall the source and still don’t really know what the quotation marks symbolize, but there’s something that resonates subliminally. On the page, I had notes from a “soulful resolution” retreat hosted by my friend, Jane Rahenkamp. Seeing my notes again today, the question “What’s important to me right now?” led to an afternoon slowdown and this very post. Thanks, Jane!

What’s Next

I’m going to do my best to be present and enjoy the final days of 2024. Besides some year-end work, I plan to go on a Yule Sensory Hike this weekend, spend time with friends and family, sit and stare at our Christmas tree, and continue reading Marcia Bonta’s Appalachian Winter.

In January, I definitely will get to the Trail Towns post I’d mentioned. I’ll also be co-releasing a Trail Town report that I think a lot of you will want to see, and I’ll be preparing for the Trail Towns 101 course that I’m co-teaching with Michele Archie in February. Michele always runs great sales this time of year, and the best way to catch them is to sign up for The Harbinger Consultancy’s newsletter. In the meantime, you can check out the free American Trails webinar we recently led to get a feel for how Michele and I plan to approach the topic of Trail Towns.

In Gratitude

Kathi and I went a few days without power this week. It was unexpected due to a gas leak and line replacement (but when is a power outage ever expected?). How grateful I am that the weather was mild, that we had family and neighbors offering help, and that the whole ordeal was handled over a three-day period. I’ve thought a lot this week about our unhoused neighbors as well as those who are still dealing with the impacts of Helene. It’s been damp and chilly this week and I keep coming back to the stark reality that some people just aren’t able to easily take the chill off. I’m now thinking about a passage from Annie Dillard’s An American Childhood, where she wrote (in a different context), “The Homewood residents whom I knew had little money and little free time. The marble floor was beginning to chill me. It was not fair." I don’t know whether this is still reading like a gratitude statement or not, but I truly am grateful for the basic necessities and creature comforts that we sometimes take for granted. Please consider a year-end donation to Beloved Asheville, whose recovery efforts extend throughout Western North Carolina.

🎄 Here’s our tree! 🎄