Day 55: Happy Slow Friday

What do you say? Shall we make this a thing?

If there were ever a day made, NOT for shopping or rushing, but for contemplating one’s navel, it’s today. If there were ever a day when we might realistically pull bits of food out of our hair like a sloth, it’s the day after Thanksgiving.

As Black Friday becomes nuttier and nuttier, I say we make this day a holiday for conservation in both the virtuous and the fun senses of the word: conserving not only financial and material resources, but also energy. Like, let’s move as slowly as possible. Carefully click the remote to watch “Elf” – you don’t want to sprain a finger. Ease ourself from one soft surface to another. Turn our heads at the pace of the tortoise from “Kung Fu Panda” as we crane to gaze out the window.

Gaze. We should gaze quite a bit today. And we should, like this sloth, watch the world go by. That’s something my dad used to say. He loved to pull up a chair on a porch or lawn, find himself a cup of coffee or bottle of beer, and say, “I’m just going to sit here, watching the world go by.”

It’s a dying art, but we can rescue it. The Turkey Trots have been run. The big dinner has been pulled off with a flourish. The sweatpants are stretchy. Our books and windows and ceilings have been missing us. Calls not to spend money on Black Friday can sound restrictive; I think the marketing would be sexier if they focused on the utter decadence of inaction. (My mouth is literally watering at the thought. What does that mean, when your mouth waters at the thought of doing nothing?)

Let’s make this sloth, high above the crowds, oblivious to long lines, our spirit animal for today. I think that Slow Friday, at least in my mind, might be here to stay.

Here’s this week’s recap:

Monday Motivation: An oxcart bonanza.

Tuesday Beauty: Taking life one butterfly hour at a time.

Wildlife Wednesday: One of the most incredible sea turtle videos ever shot.

Thanksgiving: A TBT to an essay on slang, gratitude and the oddities of language.

Have a great weekend!

I’m a writer in San José, Costa Rica, on a year-long quest to share daily posts on inspiring people, places and ideas from my adopted home as a kind of tonic during a rough time in the world. Sign up (top right of this page) to receive a little dose of inspiration every weekday in your mailbox; tell a friend; check out past posts; and please connect with me on Instagram or Facebook! You can also find me churning out small, square poems on any topic under the sun (here on the site, on Instagram or Twitter).