Welcome to Making Time - Introduce Yourself Here!
What makes a life feel vivid rather than rushed?
Hello and welcome,
I’m Sarai, the person behind Making Time. I’m here to explore this question: What makes a life feel vivid rather than rushed?
If you’re new here, please take a moment to introduce yourself down below!
What is Making Time all about?
In 2021, after a lifetime in cities, I moved to five acres in rural Oregon. I came looking for a slower life. Instead, I found that my old habits and hurried mind came with me. The setting changed, but I didn’t… at least not automatically.
In this newsletter, I share the practices, ideas, and small everyday pleasures that have helped me to find more joy and presence in the everyday. I think they might help you too.
Subscribe and You’ll Get:
Practices for living a slower, more vivid life. Slowing down is hard, and I believe it’s something you must practice each day. I share what works for me. These are simple practices you can build into your day for more ease and joy.
Get started with: Try this: The Daily List of Treats
Garden dispatches. Building a garden is one way I slow down. I share what I’m growing, harvesting, and building.
Get started with: Easy Flowers I’m Growing This Year
Seasonal eating. Cooking and eating are everyday opportunities for more joy and presence. I share seasonal recipes, ingredients, and all my favorite ways to stock a pantry.
Get started with: My 9 Favorite Homemade Pantry Staples
Plus, you’ll see life from 5 acres in the forests of Oregon.
About Me
I’m Sarai, and I’m glad you’re here!
By day, I’m the founder of Seamwork, an online community that helps people sew a meaningful wardrobe. You might also know me from our popular YouTube channel. I’ve been sewing for nearly thirty years, and making things with my hands remains central to how I understand the world.
I spent most of my life being hyper-focused on becoming as productive as possible. When I hit middle age, I asked the question that hits so many of us: Is that all there is?
But my attempts to slow down and live with more ease were often thwarted by an anxious brain. I spent 40 years conditioning myself to do as much as possible. I couldn’t erase those thoughts overnight.
What I found is that it’s not a matter of a sudden epiphany or reinvention. Slowing down and finding joy is an everyday practice, and one that you can embed in the simplest activities: eating, cooking, cleaning, gardening, making.
If you’re someone who suspects that the answer to feeling rushed isn’t doing more, but attending differently—this might be a place for you. I send letters a few times a month, and each one is an invitation to practice in your everyday life.
Introduce Yourself
Now it’s your turn! I’d love to meet and get to know you all a little better. Tell us:
Your name
Where you live
Your #1 favorite creative outlet (mine is writing)
Any other fun facts you’d like to share
I live in the North of England and mainly sew and draw. I would like to learn how to knit snd crochet too but I'm in no big rush.
I am being more mindful these days about how I spent my time so no matter how mundane the task I am trying to do it fully rather than while rushing or thinking about other things. Meditation has helped with this enormously.
I'm Miriam.
I'm a theatrical costume designer and also do custom work. While I'm good at focusing when I have a clearly defined structure, I have a lot of difficulty without it.
I have so many ideas of things to do and techniques that I'm interested in and want to pursue for both my clients and myself, but I find that I can't seem to find the time to pursue them in a focused way unless I have specific deadlines imposed externally.
I love taking workshops and learning new things—all things seem possible to me under those circumstances—but when I get home, life takes over. Part of it is life with 3 human and 2 feline agents of chaos (also, have to admit, I'm kind of an agent of chaos myself).
I don't have any answers, just observations.