The Art of Slowing Down, with Lilli Morgan

“Slowing down” certainly has had its fair share of air time in 2020! For us, living in Melbourne this year has profoundly shifted our daily rhythms, and as we slowly move back into our new normal we're considering what we want that to look like.

With this reflection in mind and the busy festive season approaching we thought we’d pick the brain of our friend Lilli Morgan. Lilli packed up her busy Melbourne life working at Smiling Mind to move to the WA desert to learn to teach (through Teach For Australia) and to live a consciously slower life.

We hope you enjoy!

Initially the idea of moving to Karratha from Melbourne filled me with a slight panic of how remote and far away from everything it is. But what is ‘everything’?

Living here I have found a deeper sense of what it means to slow down, to be alone, to connect with myself and nature, to build community, to show up, to figure out what it is I like to do, and to create romance in the smallest moments of my day.

Sure, there’s no trendy cafes or international DJ’s, but the colours of the earth and the people I have met have been enough to help me pivot my desires.

During this transition I’ve often thought about what is it that humans really need and want? Is it the latest stuff, a new restaurant, live gig, or is it more about feeling connected to something deeper.

I don’t believe we necessarily have a hierarchy of needs, but rather an interdependent desire to feel connected at a personal level as well as at a collective level.

It’s not just about the self-actualisation of the individual but also the connection to community and culture.

This is what Karratha has taught me.

The vibration up here feels like a clash of new and old Australia.

There is this tension between the thousands and thousands of years of Aboriginal history, and this new white, prefabricated, culture that has been sticky taped on top of it.

Consumerism, choice and the pace at which I operated at in the city has been really challenged up here in a stark display of contrasts.

I can’t buy much that isn’t from Kmart or Coles, I can’t go to a theatre show or bookstore, but I also don’t get FOMO because there isn’t that much going on.

As a result it’s like my nervous system is more relaxed just by being here surrounded by space, spinifex and lots and lots of dirt.

In all this time, space and boredom I’ve learnt to sit with myself, figure out the feelings and vibration I want, and then worked at creating my own experiences that are going to give me that. It’s been empowering.

In the city, I could outsource that job, going from one event to the next, however up here, I’ve had to take the reins.

We are all the creators of our own experiences of the world, within of course the multiple dimensions of reality that exist.

Some of my absolute simple pleasures that have dropped in these past few years are:

My new Spotify discover weekly every Monday
Making myself delicious fancy coffee every morning
Actually reading physical, beautiful cook books and meal planning with my housemate
Hosting lush dinner parties and playing Pictionary/ Scategories
Walking in the hills behind my house at sunset listening to podcasts
Conversation cards with friends
Playing sport most nights with a community of beautiful women
Dancing in my bedroom to loud music and covering myself in coconut oil
Lying in the sun reading a book
And finally kissing. One of my favourite ways to enjoy the present moment.

Thanks so much Lilli! xx

Nancybird is based on the banks of the Merri Creek, on the stolen lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation, whom we acknowledge as the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work, recognising their continuing connection to land, waters, and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders, past, present, and emerging, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples today and every day.