It was a hot summer afternoon - as it usually is in my hometown - you could feel a slight breeze coming through the window and at the same time the craving to eat a refreshing bowl of ''Apple Compote''. I’d love waking up from a nap during those weekend days in my childhood and hear my mother’s voice calling me and saying; Come, the compote is ready! As she smiled and took a big jar of apple compote from the fridge letting me know that relief was on the way to take out the overwhelming heat. A delightful bowl of cold compote was presented and with that a beautiful moment of pause and reflection. No pressure, no distractions, no need to eat in a hurry. Just the simplicity and enjoyment of eating this light dessert and the sound of nature. I miss that.
I miss that season of “Taking things Slow”. Because in that mindful, effortless process of eating I could connect deeper with the food that I was eating, find awareness in my surroundings and somehow experienced a sense of deeper connection with myself and life.
I question myself; why does it have to be different now? ... why do we have to live in constant "rushing mode"?... Is it because of the responsibilities we face as adults that limit us to do things more mindfully? Or is it because of how and where we chose to focus our attention on?
Although one part of society and big companies out there are strategically using modernity and technology to disguise our choices with an enormous quantity of information and materialism while pretending our lives will be better living a fast pace life full of constant movement, noise, and consumption. The truth is that all those things are trying to create a neverending cycle in us to keep us as away from our humanity as possible.
But we are 'humans' and we humans have not been made to live a superficial life but to live life naturally. We are truly special, I believe we humans have been made from a natural unique essence, and anything superficial will prevent us to connect with our true selves to live life more authentically. But don't take me wrong — I enjoy modernity and I love the amazing tools technology offers but I don't like the idea of modernity and technology replacing humanity.
Living in a world that is constantly demanding from us is not only putting a lot of weight on our day-to-day life but also debilitating our mental, emotional, and spiritual health. We don't need to have more things and stress in our lives, but reducing all that of our lives as much as we can instead.
A few months back I started to recognize that something was happening inside me — even though I've always been more of a mindful being — somehow I wasn't having enough clarity throughout every day and that I wasn't taking the proper time to do things how I used to before. It felt like trying to carry more weight than I could and it put me on a state of stress that I didn't like at all. And I knew I needed to pause, reflect, and release all of that pressure from me!
This pausing took me on the path of slow living and while adopting this approach to my life and growing up in the process I found myself again!
And so if you're feeling a bit over-stress or with a sense of pressure, I invite you to simplify your life and reconnect with your roots again.
Below I share with you a bit more about Slow Living and how simple it is to start! 👇
But we are 'humans' and we humans have not been made to live a superficial life but to live life naturally. We are truly special, I believe we humans have been made from a natural unique essence, and anything superficial will prevent us to connect with our true selves to live life more authentically. But don't take me wrong — I enjoy modernity and I love the amazing tools technology offers but I don't like the idea of modernity and technology replacing humanity.
Living in a world that is constantly demanding from us is not only putting a lot of weight on our day-to-day life but also debilitating our mental, emotional, and spiritual health. We don't need to have more things and stress in our lives, but reducing all that of our lives as much as we can instead.
A few months back I started to recognize that something was happening inside me — even though I've always been more of a mindful being — somehow I wasn't having enough clarity throughout every day and that I wasn't taking the proper time to do things how I used to before. It felt like trying to carry more weight than I could and it put me on a state of stress that I didn't like at all. And I knew I needed to pause, reflect, and release all of that pressure from me!
This pausing took me on the path of slow living and while adopting this approach to my life and growing up in the process I found myself again!
And so if you're feeling a bit over-stress or with a sense of pressure, I invite you to simplify your life and reconnect with your roots again.
Below I share with you a bit more about Slow Living and how simple it is to start! 👇
THE SLOW LIVING APPROACH
The approach of "Slow Living" or "Taking Things Slow" can bring a handful of benefits to one's life because it helps you live life in a healthier way. Because when you take time to do something and truly engage with that situation you connect with yourself and others on a deeper level — you become more genuine and start experiencing less stress in life creating a healthier environment for your emotions and mental well-being.
— WHAT IS NOT SLOW LIVING ALL ABOUT
Slow Living is not about living life in neutral mode using really slow movements to perform a task. Slow Living is more about getting things done at the right speed taking the time that is needed to perform a task either you're talking, walking, listening, playing, cooking, eating and so on — focusing attention on what is necessary without having to rush throughout things instead. To ultimately defined the true value of the things around us.
Slow Living is neither a thing of past generations – when our grandparents — seemed to have extra time to do everything else... even making their own food and live life more consciously! We still the same humans! What changed is the quantity of information and commodities we have at our disposal nowadays. The more we have the more we lose ourselves in understanding who we truly are.If we stop and think about it for a moment past generations didn’t have access to all the commodities and technology we now have. They did everything by hand and with much more effort.
And then what is causing us to live life in a rush and in constant stress? I believe the answer remains in us.
Let us live life authentically "without losing our identity" taking everything the modern world has to offer as what they are... just tools to provide a service — and no the other way around.
— The First Thing I did on My Journey to Slow Living
So the first thing I did was pretty much identify everything that was taking up extra space in my mind and life in general, deciding on keeping only the things that feel important and essential to me. It didn't take me much time, to be honest, I began with my whole mind and soul by reconnecting with my goals and dreams and ended up with a deep home cleansing by getting rid of those material things that didn't make sense keeping just because.
The outcome of this has brought more space and time to enjoy what I enjoy doing and that really matters to me. Embracing simplicity, taking things one step at a time while slowly returning to my roots as a human being. 🙏
The outcome of this has brought more space and time to enjoy what I enjoy doing and that really matters to me. Embracing simplicity, taking things one step at a time while slowly returning to my roots as a human being. 🙏
This is why I choose this "Apple Compote" recipe! Because its simplicity of flavors and effortless preparation represent an invitation to remember that within the good traditional, simplest things and moments of our lives are also the most valuables.
And now, I leave you with the recipe!
Big Hugs,
A.
Ps: you can either eat it cold or at room temperature. You can make this compote with apples or if you want to combine this with another fruit you can try this apple and pear compote recipe, I’ve shared with you a while ago in this post here. Where I also talk a bit more about the health benefits of "Fruit Compote".
APPLE COMPOTE RECIPE (Child-Friendly)
3 Small-Medium Red or Green Apples
3 1/2 cups Clean Water
Organic Cane Sugar or Sweetener of choice to taste
Spices: 1 Bark cinnamon, 1 clove
1/2 Vanilla bean, scraped, optional
Preparation:
1- Wash, peeled, deseed and cut apples into quarters. Place apples into a saucepan. Add water and spices.
2- Then cover and bring to a boil. Add sweetener of your choice. And let it cook slowly on low heat for about 20 - 25 minutes. Or until apples are tender but not to soft. When ready remove from heat and let it cool completely. Pour compote into a jar or small jars and keep in the fridge. Serve the compote cold or at room temperature.