Hello 2025! Buckle-Up This Is Going To Be a Slow Ride.

A preview of what's coming from The Slow Sip in 2025.

Mother and Son on a Roller Coaster - Photos by Canva

This month, The Slow Sip turns three!

I’m taking a moment to be a little gob-smacked that, thanks to you, this little newsletter/blog/Substack-thingy is a thriving and growing toddler.

Now it’s time to take it up a notch.

Introducing Slow Build.

Slow Build is our theme for the year. It is a lens through which we’ll try to answer the questions:

• How can we create and engage in those things that matter most - the things that give us a sense of purpose, meaning, and joy?

• And how can we do it in a way that offers us a spacious, savor-worthy experience?

So, let’s set aside that long list of New Year’s resolutions and loosen the grip on that whip we’ve constructed to help us achieve perfection. Instead, let’s take a slow and sustainable approach to creating an amazing year together.

Here’s some of what’s coming in 2025.

• We’ll explore how you can put what matters most front and center in your year, and keep the things that don’t really matter from getting in the way.

• We’ll lay the groundwork for your year by creating the conditions for success, however you might define it.

• We’ll play with the question, “What could possibly go wrong?” Here’s where you’ll uncover your sometimes-hilarious genius for getting in your own way. And how to get that genius working for you rather than against you.

• We’ll ask, “How can I make this fun and easy (or at least, a little less of a slog)?” We’ll look at practical ways to create momentum and a more effortless way of moving in the world.

• As the year wraps up, we’ll take a deep dive on how to finish strong. How to pick yourself up when you experience a set-back. How to persevere when your energy flags. How to bring your own slow build across the finish line of 2025 in a way that makes you feel grateful for a year well-lived.

In addition, you’ll receive two new offerings in 2025.

The Slow Sip’s Shareables for all subscribers.

I’m always foraging the internet for big ideas, novel insights, wise words, and arresting stories. At times I’m like a frenetic bargain hunter in a vintage clothing store. Other times I’m more like an old geezer sitting by a stream sifting for gold.

Lately, as I continue to uncover hidden gems, I’ve thought, “This is Slow Sippin’ good!”

It’s time to share.

Shareables are a curated list of treasures to support your journey to savored.

Here’s an early taste:

The late poet, Jane Kenyon advised, “Read good books, have good sentences in your ears.” When I want good sentences in my ears, a favorite place to go is Maria Popova’s, The Marginalian.

Last week this brief, but beautiful essay arrived in my inbox.

In Some Blessings to Begin With, Popova says, “It is good, I feel, to begin a new year, or a new day, with a little reservoir of gladness.” And that’s exactly what she delivers here. Be sure to take the time to soak in the words embedded in the illustrations.

Introducing “The Practice,” exclusively for Paid Subscribers.

Think of “The Practice” as a monthly visit from your coach to your inbox. I’ll share practices, powerful questions, and exercises to help you apply the concepts and ideas you read about in The Slow Sip to enhance your life.

You’ll get the opportunity to interact directly with me and a small, intimate group of other committed Slow Sippers in the paid-only comments section. Or, if you prefer, you can just quietly scoop up a few tips and exercises to practice on your own.

My dream is that together we’ll create a vibrant community of practice where we can all learn, grow, experiment and engage. A space where we can give and receive encouragement and support.

A space where we can create a world where less is more, slow is fast, failure is funny, and relief is just one slow sip away.

We will build it slowly. And just maybe, we’ll make it amazing together.

With appreciation,

Cathy