About #myslowcity

In August 2020, Los Angeles was deep into its summer virus surge, and I was deep into mourning the city I thought I’d moved to a year earlier. One of the best things about LA is the way it combines urban culture with easy access to outdoorsy pursuits, but last August, it felt like we were cut off from half the advantages the city had to offer. Where we would have normally been eating out, going to concerts and plays, or exploring museums, we instead found ourselves becoming intimately familiar with the city’s beaches and trails. 

I love beaches and trails…but I really missed all the rest. And then I stumbled on this:

It was a yarn bombing on a chain link fence at the end of a jetty, but it felt like magic. I posted it to Instagram and asked others to find slow and magical moments in their own cities. From all over the world, people did, and #myslowcity was born. 

What is #myslowcity?

#myslowcity is a hashtag, there to remind us that slow living is a choice, not a location. It’s about sharing the moments when all the motion and energy in your city contracts to a single point in time. It’s about seeking out the quiet places, and stopping long enough to acknowledge the present. it’s about seeing the cities of the world through their everyday moments rather than their tourist brochures.

How can you participate?

It’s easy. Post a photo on Instagram of a slow moment in your city or one you’re visiting, geotag the location, and use the hashtag #myslowcity. Also tag me, @from_jenn, as I regularly look through these photos and choose my favorites to highlight in my Stories. 

For extra inspiration, watch my feed for specific #myslowcity challenges. The first one, this April 2021, is #myslowcity_inbloom. Use it to highlight whatever’s blooming in your city right now, whether it’s spring cherry blossoms or autumn chrysanthemums. 

Let’s continue to share and celebrate our slow cities and slow lives, relishing the here and now, even as the world spins back up into its normal hustle and bustle.