Atlas & Co.
DCL
Dominique Browning has been winning over readers with her new memoir, Slow Love: How I Lost My Job, Put On My Pajamas and Found Happiness. From a favorable review in the New York Times Book Review to an interview with George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America, it's no surprise Slow Love has caught both blue chip media attention, as well as so many folks who have found themselves in similar situations.
When House and Garden magazine folded, it brought down the house. Most notably it brought down Browning's house. As the editor of House and Garden for over ten years, Browning was given a few days to say goodbye to colleagues, and pack up the job she loved. Slow Love chronicles how she moves through the loss of one life and discovers how to get on with a new one -- slower. With humor and careful intention, this beautifully written memoir of recovery offers up insights for those facing life changes.
In a recent conversation with Dominique Browning about Slow Love, she answers questions about her recovery, a passion for the environment, the future of magazines, and how to bring slow love into your life.
A Conversation With Dominique Browning:
Planet Green: First, can you define the value of slow love? Where did it come from, and how can it be infused on a personal and global level?
Dominique Browning: Slow Love is a way of being mindful, in whatever you are doing. It is a way of being open to the wonder and miracle of this world, falling open to it, and making sure you tap into that every day. It can be as simple as helping someone cross the street, enjoying the last bite of a farm fresh egg before heading to the sink, catching the sound of church bells, and really listening to their music. On a global level, well, slow love would help solve many problems.
PG: While writing a review of Slow Love, I learned that you are passionate about the environment. You currently write a monthly column for the Environmental Defense Fund called, Personal Nature that gives "matters of global urgency a human touch." Why did you decide to pen your activism towards the environment?
DB: It's hard enough to keep your own house in order, much less contemplate straightening out the planet. But, the urgency is here. I have a strong sense of environmental responsibility. If you love the world, you want to cherish it, and protect it, so that the next generation can get the same inspiration and pleasure and sustenance from it.
PG: How did Slow Love help you "fall in love with the natural world"?
DB: For me, gardening was my way back--getting my hands in the soil, connecting to the cycle of life and death and rebirth. And getting dirty, and grounded. Exhausting myself, and sitting and looking at the tiny creatures creeping around me.
PG: You mention that we are all interconnected. How can individuals make a difference?
DB: It's very local. Global warming needs to be approached from both ends. It can start in the garden.
PG: How did having your core rocked by loss (job, love, health) motivate you to write Slow Love? Can you achieve slow love without totally falling apart?
DB: Falling apart forced me to get off of a busy agenda. But, I think people can slow down without falling apart--and the idea isn't a slow life. That gave me the time and space to think things through, but I'm happily busy and productive again. Still, it is necessary for me to maintain the slow love discipline, finding those moments of sheer wonder.
PG: What scared you the most?
DB: Not having a structure to my day, I didn't have a job to go to and I just stayed in my pajamas and fell apart. The book gave me a schedule that I imposed. It was the shear act of deciding, "I'm going to write a book." It was my job at the time.
PG: Why do you think Slow Love resonates with so many people? What advice do you have for folks in similar situations?
DB: Life changes, losing job, love, health changes…slow love can become a guiding life principle to reconnect with both the natural world and a new way of living. Sure, you can go to an ashram. But it is just like going on a diet. Eventually, you have to sit at the table with friends and family, in the real, busy, delightful world. And so I wanted to think about how to be mindful in a way that didn't involve detachment, or getting rid of my material life.
PG: As the author of a few books, and the ex-editor of a popular shelter magazine, you are well acquainted with the printed word. How is the world of magazines changing?
DB: The digitized world and the wave of blogging is exciting. It is one more enriching thing. Blogs are immediate. The rules are changing and magazines will evolve.
PG: Balance seems to be a conundrum for so many folks, not just those facing mid-life like you and me. As someone who has a 20-something year old daughter who is heading towards the fast track, what advice can you tell me to give her about finding slow love?
DB: Finding those moments to be open to the miracle of life and taking the time to notice.
PG: So, you've discovered slow love and life has obviously changed. You're blogging, traveling around the country on a book tour, writing for magazines and online sites, and conducting many interviews. Sounds like quite a busy life. What's next?
DB: I'm busy with my blog, Slow Love Life, with magazine articles--and I hope to think of a new book project soon.
Dominique suggests supporting your local booksellers by purchasing Slow Love at IndieBound.
