My Joy-urney: What’s the Joy of Savannah, Georgia? (+ My Favorite Spots!)

My first stop on my joy-urney is Savannah, Georgia!

And honestly, what an amazing place to learn and study all about joy. I’ve grown, I’ve learned and I’ve increased my inner joy— thank you, Savannah!

Keep reading to learn more!

Joy-urney Reflections

There’s a quote in The Alchemist I love (I actually included it in my post celebrating my first year of this space!) that says the following…

And, honestly, I don’t think anything can fit my experience in Savannah better than that quote.

We all have inner callings within us. These desires, these wishes, these purposes, these Personal Legends, whatever you want to call them are always with us—sometimes right out in front other times lingering in the background… but they are always there.

However, I feel like very few actually follow these nudges because doing so puts you into such a sense of the UNKNOWN where you really only have to rely on your faith to get you through.

It’s scary to actually take that leap of faith.

When I was about to embark on this joy-urney, I was such a mixture of nerves, stress, and yet also immense peace.

When the peace was being hidden by the nerves, what I found myself doing was two things.

One was repeating the quote by Abraham Lincoln and Peter Drucker ( although I learned it through Dr. Joe Dispenza) that says, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” When nerves kept coming up, I would lean into this quote and find myself then saying to myself, “Okay, let’s create this future that I want!”

I also was reminded of a scene from a show I watched where the main characters find themselves having to rappel down a cliff. One of the characters is extremely scared, and the other says that one thing he learned from his time on ships was, “that first jump is a leap of faith, after that, you got no more fear.”

I just needed to have enough courage to take that first step. That step was leaving and heading to Savannah, and as the quote said… the rest was a lot easier.

Savannah’s Joy Lesson

Once I actually landed in Savannah, I have to say that the Universe really conspired on my behalf. I didn’t need to seek out the joy— it honestly would find me!

It soon became clear to me that the JOY lesson for (and the JOY of) Savannah is the power of SLOWING DOWN. 

When you come to Savannah, there’s a nickname for the city I have learned… “Slow-vana”, and it couldn’t be more fitting.

Time seems to move more slowly here. At its own pace. And it is truly a beautiful thing to witness.

One man that I met defined Savannah as being like “a comfort meal… or a comfort blanket.” This makes sense with Savannah because it offers a certain comfort in encouraging you not to be living life in the fast lane, to truly take the time to slowwwww dowwwnnnn and just be in the moment more.

When I went to a yoga class in Savannah, I was once again reminded of the lessons that come from slowing down when the yoga instructor read the following quote by Mark Nepo during class…

I am reminded of Eckhart Tolle’s teachings in The Power of Now when I think of slowing down to enjoy this NOW moment.

One of my favorite quotes from the book says,

When I think of living in the present moment more, I think of the term slow living.

An article published on VeryWell Mind defines slow living as meaning the following…

Research has also been showing the impact of slow living on people’s well-being (and therefore their joy, in my opinion!).

Some benefits of Slow Living (as it relates to sustainability) listed in a blog post by Chapman University
includes:

Another article from The Daily Star lists these positive physical effects of living a slower-paced life,

Ideas for Slowing Down

1.) Read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle: This is one of my favorite books to read to increase your inner joy! Eckhart Tolle is such a person to look to for slowing down and being more in the Now moment in life. If you want to learn more about what this means, check out his book— The Power of Now– to learn more about the gifts that the Now moment has for us.

2.) Live in the Here and Now: One of the lessons I learned from Eckhart Tolle’s book is that everything happens in the Now moment. Things that occurred in the past—happened in the Now moment then. Things that will occur in the future—will happen in the Now moment then. So, try not to focus so much attention on worrying about the past or the future because it all will happen in the present moment when it does. Might as well live in the present moment right now!

3.) Limit Your Social Media Consumption: Recently, I found myself plugged into Instagram a little too much (I’m human afterall!), and I noticed it really wasn’t adding a lot of joy to my life. Actually, it was taking away from my joy. I felt like time was moving so much faster when I was scrolling. Also, looking at other people’s lives was causing me to not be in my own present moment of my own life. If this resonates with you, consider limiting your social media consumption, and see if that impacts how fast you seem to be living life as well as connecting with your inner joy!

4.) Unplug!: In addition to limiting your social media consumption, consider also taking time to fully unplug from social media and/or media entertainment if you resonate with that. Consider a weekly day off of social media and/or media entertainment like watching television. See how that day will seem to move more slowly. It may be hard at first, but I have to say for myself— when I limited/drastically cut back my TV watching— I found that I started to actually enjoy the slower moments of life more!

5.) Slow Food: I love that this has become more of a thing in our American culture (although the Europeans have been onto this for a long time). When I was in Spain, it amazed me how the Spainards would START dinner at around 9 o’clock (easily!). And dinner wasn’t a thing to rush through— it truly was a time to savor. Julia Childs Heyl, MSW writes that the slow food movement is actually what gave rise to the Slow Living movement that we are seeing more of today! It was in 1986, according to Heyl, that the Slow Food Movement was born when an Italian journalist by the name of Carlo Petrini protested the opening of the first McDonalds in Italy with other activists. The Slow Food’s website states this activism’s “initial aim [was] to defend regional traditions, good food, gastronomic pleasure and a slow pace of life. In over two decades of history, the movement has evolved to embrace a comprehensive approach to food that recognizes the strong connections between plate, planet, people, politics and culture.”

If you want to learn more about this movement check out their website . If you want some ways/ more background on how to incorporate slow food into your life, check out this post!

6.) Slow Traveling: Another thing I love that has become a thing is slow traveling. Oftentimes when people travel, there is such a tendency to “pack in as much as you can”. While this can be easily done the first few days, it does seem to get more tiring as the days go on. Then, you get home and have that feeling of needing a “vacation from your vacation”. However, slow traveling emphasizes exactly as the name implies-traveling slowly. More intentionally.

One article by Remote Year defines ‘slow traveling’ to mean the, “[…] approach to travel that emphasizes connection: to local people, cultures, food and music. It relies on the idea that a trip is meant to educate and have an emotional impact, in the present moment and for the future, while remaining sustainable for local communities and the environment.” For me personally, I love incorporating days into traveling where there really aren’t any formal plans and seeing where the day takes me. On days when there are formal plans, I love just having one or two things and leaving the rest open to leave room for the unplanned. I also like not knowing exactly where we are going to eat next. Perhaps you will just be strolling and see a place that looks good and decide to eat there. Then, it turns out to be your favorite meal from the trip— all unplanned and done in a more slow way!

The aforementioned Remote Year article also lists this as an idea to slowly travel, “[w]here travel is considered, a ‘slow’ mindset urges tourists to take a step back from their to-do lists and Instagram-worthy photo ops and simply embrace what the local community has to offer. Instead of making sure you hit the “hot spots” outlined in a travel guide, focus on things that locals do everyday, things that excite them and give them joy. The impact that these connections have on you will last a lot longer than the memories that you have of racing from tourist attraction to tourist attraction.” How joyful does that sound?

7.) Practice Mindfulness: Mindfulness is a term that is certainly more on the rise these past years which is a great thing because it’s a wonderful tool to increase your joy! Mindful says, “Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us. […] Whenever you bring awareness to what you’re directly experiencing via your senses, or to your state of mind via your thoughts and emotions, you’re being mindful.”

There are lots of different “ways” to be mindful simply because it is– as Mindful says– the act being fully present with what you are doing in the moment! This can look like mindfulness when washing your dishes, mindfulness when taking a walk, mindfulness meditations, etc. The research is also there for mindfulness–
Mindful Schools states The American Psychological Association has shared mindfulness has benefits in… “stress reduction, boosts to working memory, focus, less emotional reactivity, more cognitive flexibility, [and] relation satisfaction”. To get started with mindfulness, check out article by Mind for some ideas!

8.) Meditate: If you have been here for a while then you know— I love me some meditation. It truly has had the biggest impact on my inner joy, and I love the ways it continually provides me what I need when I need it the most. For example, meditation allows you to slow down your external and your internal worlds a bit. When life seems to be moving a million miles per hour, meditation (I find for myself) allows me to gently hit the break and slow everything down a bit. From that place, then I can connect with my inner joy, and move forward from that place!

9.) Reflect: If you find yourself really struggling with slowing down, take some time to reflect on why. Is it the concern about the unknown of not rushing to one thing after the next? Are there beliefs/thoughts that maybe you have been pushing aside by always rushing in life that you want to change? Those were two of the biggest things that came up for me as I try to live a more slow life. However, there’s a lyric in a song by Thomas Rhett (accompanied by many others) that says, “‘Cause the finish line is six feet in the ground/ In a race you can’t win, just slow it down”. Sounds a little brash— but it is honestly so true. What exactly are we rushing towards? Death? When you think about it, that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense— so we might as well slow it down.

My Top Favorites in Savannah

1.) Forsyth Park: Love, love, love this park. It’s the largest park of Historic Savannah, and it has this beautiful fountain in it. It also has tons of trees with Spanish Moss, a playground, a “secret” rose garden, and lots of green space. Savannah also has its Farmer’s Markets there!

2.) River Street: Appropriately named, this street runs right down the river in Savannah. It offers such historic charm with its cobblestone streets and buildings, and it is such a fun spot to take a stroll down!

3.) Walk Savannah’s 22 Sqaures: One day while I was in Savannah, I decided I wanted to walk all of Savannah’s 22 Squares. It is more of a half-day to a full-day task, but it was one of my favorite things I did! I loved getting to see how each square is so different and unique and it offered a great chance to explore historic Savannah!

4.) Tybee Island: Just a short drive from Savannah is Tybee Island where you can experience the beach! I love the ocean— so I always enjoyed getting the chance to go to Tybee. It also offers such a fun beachy downtown!

5.) Taking a Trolly Tour: Savannah honestly has so much history, it was nice to get a more condensed and easy-to-digest version while zooming around the city in a trolley! I used Old Savannah Tours when I was in Savannah, and it was great– it included dressed up characters which was extra fun!

6.) E. Shaver, Bookseller: I tend to seek out bookstores when I travel places, and the E. Shaver, Bookseller bookstore in Savannah right on Madison Square is such a gem! It offers wonderful rooms to wander though and also has kitties to pet while you ponder the books!

7.) Shop SCAD: SCAD (or the Savannah College of Art and Design) offers an amazing store just off the sqaure. Within, are products made by SCAD students and alumni. It’s truly such a fun little spot to spend some time in!

8.) Taking Walks: With all its squares, Savannah is such a great city to take a walk through! Its streets offer so much charm and history in a beautiful mixture— I loved just stepping out and seeing where it led me! A really charming street to check out while in Savannah is Jones Street!

9.) Gallery Espresso: I posted about this one on my Instagram, but this coffee shop was my favorite one in Savannah. While I drink tea, it offered so many choices, and the vibe of the place truly is one of Gilmore Girls/ Stars Hollow!

10.) Savannah Bee Company: I love honey and use it pretty much daily, so I loved getting to go to the Savannah Bee Company in Savannah (although they have stores all over now!). Getting to taste the different honeys and how they all taste so different was so cool!

Thanks for Tagging Along! Stay tuned for the next stop…

How can you slow down more?