the tortoise & the hare

Latest Episodes:

Random Acts of Kindness #4 - The Slow Home Experiment Sep 25, 2016

Show notes

“You will never regret being kind.”

Turns out, not only is this an internet-friendly quote thrown around online a great deal, but it’s also actually true! This month’s random acts of kindness experiment has been both eye and heart-opening for Brooke and Ben, and this week they talk through some of their favourite moments.

They also talk about the vulnerability of kindness, and how much easier it’s started to come, the more they’ve practised.

As this is the last Monday show for September, it’s also time to reveal next month’s Slow Home Experiment, and in October Brooke and Ben are going back to their decluttering roots and playing the Minimalists Game.

In this episode they explain exactly what that means and why they’ve decided to spend October letting go of some of the excess stuff that’s accrued over the past 6 months, as well as how you can join them. It starts easily enough, with decluttering one item on Day 1 of the month, and two items on Day 2. It starts to get a little tougher as the month wears on though, and you’re letting go of 10, 15, 20 items a day.

So while this is going to be a challenge, it would be a fun one to join in on too. Head over to http://www.slowyourhome.com/105 for the details, feel free to play along, and tag your social media posts with #minsgame and #slowhomeexperiment.

In the meantime, have a great week!

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If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support it, leave a rating or a review in iTunes: (https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/slow-home-podcast-brooke-mcalary/id985005895?mt=2) or head over to the Patreon page (www.patreon.com/slow) to help support the show financially.

And thanks so much for listening!

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Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

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It's the Journey, Not the Destination with Carolyn Tate Sep 21, 2016

Show notes

Today Brooke chats with Carolyn Tate, co-founder of The Slow School of Business and Conscious Capitalism Australia. She’s an ex-marketing executive who ‘flicked on the slow switch’ in 2010, after a massive realisation about the life she’d been living.

Brooke and Carolyn talk a lot about her personal journey, what changes she’s made over the past 6 years, what she’s still working on and how her life is different now. Carolyn is also a massive advocate for living a purpose-driven life, and they talk a lot about the idea of finding your Why and using it to inform the choices you make and the life you create.

They also talk about the problem with work/life balance as one of the core reasons for Carolyn to start The Slow School of Business, and she has some golden tips on how to start affecting change from within an organisation rather than seeing the only solution as finding a new job or starting your own business.

There is so much to learn from Carolyn’s personal story, including what happens when we have the courage to listen to that little voice in our heads that’s telling us something isn’t right, that we couldn’t actually fit it all in to one conversation, so stay tuned next week for part two!

But in the meantime, don’t forget to head over to http://www.slowyourhome.com/104 for links to books, blog posts and resources mentioned in today’s episode.

Enjoy!

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And thanks so much for listening!

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Random Acts of Kindness #3 - The Slow Home Experiment Sep 18, 2016

Show notes

More than halfway through this month’s Slow Home Experiment and Brooke is discovering that the impact a random act of kindness can have stretches further than only the receiver, and even beyond the giver, to sometimes impact the people who simply witness it. And while it wasn’t necessarily the intention when they began, her and Ben have realised that putting kindness into the world in this way, on a regular basis, is such a rewarding thing to do.

This week Ben and Brooke talk about the good parts of the experiment, as well as some of the things they’ve been struggling with personally, and Brooke shares a particularly funny internal reaction to her buying coffee for a stranger.

They also walk through some of the kind things they’ve done for others this week, and will be posting some ideas for kindness acts over on Facebook over the coming days. None of them are big, and most don’t cost anything other than time and attention, but the benefits are much more wide-reaching than either Brooke or Ben had expected, and for that they’re grateful.

For the full blog post and links to resources mentioned in today’s poggie, head over to http://www.slowyourhome.com/103

Enjoy the pogpast!

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And thanks so much for listening!

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Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

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Listener Chat with Joshua Sep 14, 2016

Show notes

It’s time for another listener chat on the pogpast, and Brooke’s guest Joshua is a warm and generous delight of a person whose openness left both Brooke and Ben feeling incredibly inspired.

When she first heard his story in the Straight and Curly Facebook group a few weeks ago, Brooke knew she needed to talk to Joshua about his journey back from overwhelm, and how he and his family have learnt to value time and experiences over the trappings of ‘success’.

Joshua is so open and generous in the things he shares, as he talks about the moment it became clear that things weren’t OK and goes deep in to the ways he and his husband have worked together to find a balance.

Joshua also talks about the really simple shifts he’s made at home in order to start living more sustainably, as well as what he’s doing with the space letting go has opened up.

The audio in this conversation isn’t great unfortunately, but the wisdom Joshua drops is way too good not to share so please forgive it.

Enjoy!

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If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support it, leave a rating or a review in iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/slow-home-podcast-brooke-mcalary/id985005895?mt=2 or head over to the Patreon page at www.patreon.com/slow to help support the show financially.

And thanks so much for listening!

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Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Random Acts of Kindness #2 - The Slow Home Experiment Sep 11, 2016

Show notes

Brooke and Ben knew that the Random Acts of Kindness experiment would shift the way they viewed the world, but what they didn’t expect was the huge levels of support from all of you!

Today they talk about why it’s struck such a chord with people, as well as the different ways they’ve both tried to spread kindness over the past week.

This experiment isn’t about big, audacious gifts or flashy examples of financial generosity (although they’re amazing too) but rather showing kindness where we might not have previously - opening a door, smiling at a stranger, letting someone know you’re thinking about them or that you can even see them, acting on the impulse to be kind where we otherwise might not have - and today both Ben and Brooke share why that’s been an incredible, and slightly unnerving shift to make.

For the full blog post and links to resources mentioned in today’s poggie, head over to http://www.slowyourhome.com/101

Enjoy the pogpast!

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And thanks so much for listening!

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Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

100th Episode Celebration and AMA Sep 07, 2016

Show notes

When they started The Slow Home Podcast 18 months ago, Brooke and Ben had no idea it would work out the way it has. More than 1.2 million downloads, named one of the best shows of 2015 by iTunes, and an amazing community of like-minded people has them routinely shaking their heads in wonderment.

Today marks the 100th episode of the poggie and it’s a fun one. Brooke opened up an AMA (ask me anything) on Facebook last week and got some great questions, so today they do their best to answer a whole heap of them.They talk about TV and books, the things they miss about pre-slow life and where they’d spend 24 child-free hours anywhere in the world. They also share some of their favourite music, areas of life that challenge them to live slow and the pretty mundane story of how they met.

It’s a celebration of the past 100 episodes, peppered with lots of chat about slowing down and more than a couple of inside jokes. Enjoy! And thank you for being part of it.

For the full blog post and links to websites and resources mentioned in today’s poggie, head over to http://www.slowyourhome.com/100

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And thanks so much for listening!

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Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Random Acts of Kindness #1 - The Slow Home Experiment Sep 04, 2016

Show notes

This month’s Slow Home Experiment is only a few days old and Brooke and Ben are super excited to see how many people have decided to join in on the daily kindness experiment.

In today’s episode they talk about how they’re feeling a few days in to this experiment, what’s been challenging, what’s been surprising, and what small acts of kindness they’ve undertaken over the first few days.

When this experiment was first announced there were two questions that kept coming up, so they spend a little time today unpacking their thoughts on each of them. Firstly, what constitutes an act of kindness? Does it count if we’re kind to ourselves?

The second question related to money, and the cost of many popular random acts of kindness. The oft-quoted ideas of buying a coffee for the person behind you at the coffee shop, or buying flowers or a meal for someone - while lovely, thoughtful ideas - are out of the financial realm for most of us. So Ben and Brooke also spend some time working through a list of non-financial ideas that will hopefully encourage even more people to spread kindness this month.

There is a long list of ideas over on the blog and you can find the show notes at http://www.slowyourhome.com/99

Enjoy!

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And thanks so much for listening!

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Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

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Back to where it all began Aug 31, 2016

Show notes

As Brooke and Ben prepare for the 100th pogpast episode next week, they thought it would be fun to take a look back at the very beginning. Not for the awkwardness (although it IS awkward) and not for the laughs (although it IS cringeingly funny) but so you can see how much things have changed over the past 18 months.

One of the things Brooke is most passionate about in advocating for a slower way of living is the idea that there is no 'right way'. There isn't a perfect road map to simplicity or a step-by-step guidebook that will take you to the best version of your best life. It's messy and real and sometimes frustrating, and it almost certainly involves a lot of questioning and evolution and iteration.

By going back in time Brooke and Ben can see just how much they've changed and how much more aligned they are with their Why, but also just how important those earlier stages have been in creating the life they're living today.

Here's to awkward conversation and a wonderful day! Enjoy!

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And thanks so much for listening!

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Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

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Screen-Free Bedroom #5 Aug 28, 2016

Show notes

The end of the month is near which means it’s time to wrap up the August Slow Home Experiment and introduce a new one for September.

This month’s screen-free bedroom experiment has been one of the simplest and most effective changes Brooke and Ben have made all year, and in today’s episode they talk about its challenges and benefits, as well as some of the reasons people didn’t or couldn’t join in, alongside possible solutions for the most common of those.

When it comes to the September experiment, Brooke and Ben were inspired by her recent conversation with Jono Fisher, and have decided to commit one random act of kindness every day for the entire month. As Brooke reveals in this conversation - she’s actually pretty nervous about this one!

She and Ben talk about potential acts of kindness they could try, as well as some of the options that aren’t going to cost money every day.

For links and resources mentioned in today’s episode head over to http://www.slowyourhome.com/98

This is another experiment anyone can join in on, so please feel free to play along, and tag your social media posts with #slowhomeexperiment.

In the meantime, have a cracking week! Enjoy!

Enjoy!

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And thanks so much for listening!

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Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Create More, Consume Less with Margy Heuschele Aug 24, 2016

Show notes

In today’s episode Brooke chats with the utterly lovely Margy Heuschele - a teacher-librarian from Toowoomba in Queensland - who has gradually shifted her life from one of stress and overwhelm and perfectionism and control, to one of slowness, contentment, simplicity and joy in the tiny moments.

There are so many things to love in this episode (not least Margy’s amazing book recommendations!) but one of the most striking things is the contentment Margy exudes and the way she describes the tiny, beautiful moments in her life as the turning point in living a slower, more mindful life. There wasn’t a huge traumatic experience or a momentous realisation that brought her to slow living, but rather taking the time for little, mundane moments of beauty in her every day.

She and Brooke also talk about the impact simplifying had on her now-grown kids, why it’s so important to teach people (both the young and not-so-young) foundational skills such as sewing and gardening, and why she and her husband started a simple living organisation in their community.

For links to all of Margy’s book recommendations and other resources mentioned in today’s episode, head over to http://www.slowyourhome.com/97

Enjoy!

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And thanks so much for listening!

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Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.