Loechner - Chasing Slow

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When you find you are drowning in your own lifeworking harder, sleeping less, putting out fires, filling your hours with to-dos, and enjoying very little of itI pray that Erin Loechners gentle, wise book will find its way into your hands. Chasing Slow guides us to a simpler life worth living. Prepare to feel your heart rate drop as you read these soothing, smart words.

Gabrielle Blair, mother of six; blogger; author,
New York Times bestselling Design Mom

Erins writing is beautiful, and this book is soulful and practical, honest and inspiring. For all of us who are tempted to perform and filter and provewhich is, I think, all of usthis is a necessary conversation about a deeper, better way of living.

Shauna Niequist, author, Bread and Wine and Savor

In the fast lane of life, this book is a much needed rest stop for the soul.

Bethany Joy Clark, global brand ambassador, TOMS

Beautifully written. Beautifully lived. Chasing Slow will capture your attention, shift your perspective on life, and mark your journey as you move toward what matters.

Ellie Holcomb, singer/songwriter; Dove Awardwinning artist

When the world yells, Be more, run faster, try harder, Ill pick up this book again to remind me that true joy lies in the beauty of slow and present. With grace and humor, Erin tells the stories I need to hear and brought my heart back home.

Kelle Hampton, author, New York Times bestselling memoir Bloom

Erin Loechner has a calming presence, a reassuring voice, and a life-giving soul. Youll walk away from these pages shifted and feeling whole instead of hurried. Her words are a brave call to a fast-paced generation, and I cannot suggest reading them enough.

Jess Connolly, speaker; coauthor, Wild and Free

Reading Chasing Slow is like eating a really scrumptious meal that also happens to be good for you. Erins voice is honest even when it hurts, inviting even when we dont deserve the invitation. I consumed this delicious, compelling book in a weekend and bled my highlighter dry along the way.

Raechel Myers, cofounder and CEO, She Reads Truth

Erin has always stood out as someone who knows how to get beyond the pretty picture and all the comments and likes of social media. In her eloquent, smart, and real story about the evolution of her online and offline journey, she reminds us how to accept ourselves, feel more with less, and soak up life as it come to us.

Joy Cho, founder, Oh Joy!

Chasing Slow is equal parts memoir, meditation, and map to a more peaceful life. Erin Loechner has an artists eye for beauty, a poets ear for metaphor, and a scientists mind for investigation and clarity. Her wise voice stayed with me long after I finished the book.

Asha Dornfest, author, Parent Hacks and Minimalist Parenting

Erin takes us on a charming, meandering dance of stories, witticisms, and wisdoms. This book is for dreamers, adventurers, creatives, students, mamas, and professionals, but more than that, its for those of us feeling flawed and desperately craving connection. Im adding it to a very short stack of inspiring favorites, and cannot wait to read it again.

Whitney English, founder and CEO, Day Designer

With four daughters and a job that I love, it is a great challenge for me to keep prioritized those things that give me true joy. As more activity comes into my life, Erins story has given me not only inspiration but a practical framework to make healthy and easily implemented choices.

Barrett Ward, CEO, FASHIONABLE

Erins way of thinking shows the fruit of living slowly. She pulls at every string, peeks beneath every layer. She connects the dots of how so many of us are feeling, putting words to questions were only just beginning to ask. This book is beautifully written, and youll want to savor it.

Hayley Morgan, coauthor, Wild and Free

ZONDERVAN

Chasing Slow

Copyright 2016 by Erin Loechner

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

ISBN 978-0-310-34567-1 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-0-310-34568-8 (ebook)

Epub Edition December 2016 ISBN 9780310345688

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Art direction: Erin Loechner

Typesetting: Kait Lamphere

Cover and interior photos: Ken Loechner

First printing July 2016 / Printed in China

This book is a work of creative nonfiction. This means I can

write a true story about my life but still throw a dinner party

and invite those whose names might have been changed.

So here it is. The truth as Ive seen it.

FOR KEN

Listen, are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?

Mary Oliver, West Wind

S ugar, let me give you some advice here.

I am nearly eighteen, at the DMV, posing for my first drivers license photo. Its back-to-school season, and Shelley, my appointed clerk, is wearing miniature pencil earrings and a school-bus-yellow sweater. As she speaks, I fixate on the tiny pencils, plus a Bic pen she has tucked behind her ear.

You dont wanna smile too cute, kay? she says. Pity over pretty. Think about it, Sugar. You know whos gonna see this card? The cops, right before they bust you. You want em to feel a little bit sorry for you is all Im sayin. Chin down, eyes up, no teethpitiful, you know?

She pronounces it pity-full, and in my head Ive pronounced it this way ever since. It seems right.

You ready? One, two...

On three, she and her pencil earrings snap the photo. As I gather my receipts, as I sign with her Bic pen, she says, You did good on the photo, Sugar. Real good. Parallel parking needs some work, though.

I thank her, and I smile as I leave. For a moment, I wonder if Shelley is wrong about the photo. Shouldnt I have smiled wide with confidence? Eyes open, ready for the world? A happy, well-adjusted girl with a bright future?

Thats who I am, right? Confident? Happy? Bright future?

Right?