Slow Love is Good Love

I just finished reading Slow Love by Dominique Browning for the BlogHer Book Review Program and her romantically poignantwriting has left me feeling quite poetic.   

During this quick read I found myself underlining meaningfulphrases, and scribbling arrows, stars, and other marginalia. While “quick,”I wouldn’t call this an “easy” read as the writing so exquisitely forced me todo exactly what the title implies, slow down and take in every line ofprose as if it were a secret explanation to the mysterious puzzles of my ownlife.

I feel the only way to capture the true essence of thisbook is to give you a glimpse into some of my favorite lines, which tell theperfect story of what it means to find slowlove.

Take joy

Lost love

Longing for safety

Stability

Security

Tethered to ambivalence

Abandonment

Rage

Confusion

Despair

Fantasies of salvation

Hope for

Happily-ever-after

Attention

Nurturing

Friendships

Honest conversation

Availability

Sensitivity

Care

Compassion

I am my own case history

Dig

Hoping that all will end well

The shadows come into play

Being alive

Find balance

Feel constantly needed

I am on my own

He liked to hold hands

“Why don’t you feel you’re worth it, anyway?”

When we get too attached to suffering,

We use it to avoid our own difficult truths

Take the repeats

I am playing for my own pleasure

I am learning to silence the critic in my head,

The one who will not stop telling me 

that nothing I do isgood enough

I am making peace with the night season

I think more fluidly when I’m moving

When I read,

Everything makes sense

My books start feeling like phantom limbs

I like to rest my eyes on things

Just get the words down,

They can always be changed

There was no longer anyone around

To tell me that I couldn’t

Food is a way to bond with someone else

Fantasy

Hope

Dreams

Kindness to yourself

Why am I fighting my true nature?

Slow cooking

Quickly becomes a happy part of falling in

Slow love

Sometimes it isn’t about you

I had wanted him to know that I needed him—

Without having to ask him to be there

I could only change myself

Everything has gone wrong

And it is just too much

Make it all better

Massive relief

Life has never been more peaceful

I have the illusion that my life is in order

And sometimes that’s as good as it gets

I’m taking care of myself

So what if it ends?

That doesn’t mean it should never have begun

Things thrive in unlikely places

“What is there to do?”

Nothing to do is not the same as nothing can be done

Anyone with the desire

can cook

So what if it ends?

The adventure was wonderful

There’s more ahead

I love making a home

I no longer want to live a life of expectation

Finding room in my life again for everything I love,

And letting the quiet of solitary moments steal over myheart

Blow out the day’s fears

Home is the place where you feel most alive

And true to yourself

I will make another

I will plant another

“You must reach deeper

You must reach to where the water is still

Then you will move faster.”

A slow flush of love for the world—

The sheer pleasure of being here,

The profound honor of witnessing life.

Love is all around me.

I hope that one of these lines stands out and inspiresyou to read this touching book, as well as help you on your own path to find Slow Love.

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