The Tortoise with Brooke McAlary

It might have been the after effects of a tumultuous, emotional week or possibly the fact that they had to record this episode twice (no word on whose fault that is, Brooke) but this hostful gets a little emotional.  As usual, Brooke and Ben answer some listener questions about various elements of slow living, but considering the events of the past week and the subsequent media frenzy, this hostful comes at a super opportune time as Brooke and Ben talk about the role of social media and news in a slower paced life. They also talk specifically on how to avoid overwhelm when faced with an excess of opinions dressed as news, and the different strategies they each use to keep oversaturation of 'current affairs' to a minimum.  The conversation get quite emotional when answering a question about their personal Whys, as both Brooke and Ben examine the reasons for change and what they each stand to gain by choosing to slow down and simplify.  Thankfully, there are also some less emotional questions regarding books (which Brooke is delighted about!) recovering from a busy or stressful period, and the negatives to slow living.  As always, these questions get the brain juices flowing, and hopefully some of the answers and strategies in today's pogpast will be helpful to you as you continue to slow down and simplify.  Enjoy! ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support it, leave a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to the Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! ====  Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the second full week of the November Slow Home Experiment of daily play, and in today’s episode Ben and Brooke talk about their progress. Brooke’s been feeling a little insecure in her attempts this week as she’s not naturally as playful as Ben and has been wondering if she’s doing it ‘right’. Her and Ben talk about the things they have been doing, including more play with the kids, choosing to laugh and joke more freely, listening to funny things instead of serious things, hunting for rainbows and throwing the ball around. But what Brooke can’t really shake is the feeling that this is a job. They chat about habit change and whether the ‘job’ feeling is part of making a lasting change, as well as the problem with comparisons. This is another experiment that’s open to everyone, and it’s never too late to join in. Feel free to tag your social media posts with #slowhomeexperiment and have a cracker of a week. Enjoy! ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support it, leave a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to the Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In another deep-dive episode, Brooke chats with Mel Tually, the co-ordinator of Fashion Revolution in Australia and NZ.  Fashion Revolution was started in response to the 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza factory building in Bangladesh, where more than 1,100 garment workers perished. The tragedy shone a bright light on the garment industry and the substandard conditions many of them are forced to endure, in the name of cheap, fast fashion. In this episode Mel and Brooke talk about the importance of ethical fashion and the transparency that is starting to appear in many well-known labels around the world. But they also talk about the importance of being intentional with the choices we make, opting for quality over quantity (or brand name, for that matter) and simply buying less fashion. Mel also has some fantastic advice for those of us who feel completely overwhelmed by the problems facing the fashion industry, and the inevitable paralysis by analysis when we begin to look a little deeper into the clothes we wear.  There are some amazing listener questions featured in this episode and Mel lists whole heap of resources to help you learn more about the people behind the clothes. Head over to http://www.slowyourhome.com/118 for a full list.  Enjoy! ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support it, leave a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to the Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! ====  Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new month rings in a new Slow Home Experiment, and after the fairly heavy workload of last month’s decluttering experiment, in November Brooke and Ben have decided to go for something more playful. In fact, as they explained in last week’s episode, they’re experimenting with daily play! (Or random silliness, playfulness, wonder, non-task-oriented things, call it what you will.) Unsurprisingly, they’ve both had lots of fun this week, but Ben and Brooke talk about the fact that he is much more naturally playful than she is, and that this week has been more challenging than Brooke expected. They look at why that might be, plus how Brooke is choosing to remind herself to lighten up every day and rediscover her inner child. One thing they both wanted to make clear is that this experiment is definitely not just for those with kids at home. Everyone has the opportunity to be more playful, and while kids perhaps make it more obvious that play is available at every turn, play can be anything that’s just for fun. There are so many ways we can re-engage that sense of child-like wonder in our days, and Ben and Brooke talk through some of them in today’s poggie. Head over to http://www.slowyourhome.com/117 for a full list of play ideas. This is another experiment that’s open to everyone, and it’s never too late to join in. Feel free to tag your social media posts with #slowhomeexperiment and have a cracker of a week. Enjoy! ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support it, leave a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to the Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today’s episode Brooke chats with Jaimee Edwards, who, as a professional fermenter, has one of the coolest job titles ever. Fermenting is having quite the resurgence in popular culture now - think kombucha, miso, kim-chi and sauerkraut - but in today’s chat Jaimee and Brooke talk about food trends and why some disappear while others grow and shift, becoming movements that appeal to a far greater audience than just the French-basket wielding, farmer’s market crew. Jaimee talks about her experience in bottling 100 kilograms (yes, kilograms!) of tomatoes one afternoon and how it proved to be a turning point in not only her career, but also her relationship with food. She and Brooke also talk at length about what life is like when lived elbow-deep in good bacteria. Head over to the blog for links to Cornersmith and the books Jaimee recommends in this poggie.  Enjoy! ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support it, leave a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to the Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today marks the final day of the October Slow Home Experiment of daily decluttering, and the big question is - how did they go after last week? Brooke and Ben talk about their final efforts, what clutter they let go of and whether they made the #minsgame total of 497 items each.  They also talk about the upcoming November experiment of playfulness, and why they decided to go with something that felt a lot less like work. Enjoy! ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support it, leave a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to the Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week's episode is such a treat, as Brooke sits down with Jonathan Fields - founder and host of The Good Life Project, author, father, life-long learner and all-round wonderful human.  Brooke and Jonathan talk about what it means to live a good life, why the power of choice is a game-changer in how we choose to spend our days, and the hugely traumatic event that led Jonathan to question his definition of 'a good life'.  They also chat about the delicious irony of advocating a slower, simpler way of life when in the midst of a busy season (Jonathan is in the midst of launching his new book and all the work that entails) but also why it's not necessarily a bad thing to experience the busy-ness some times.  Jonathan explains the difference between mindful living and practicing mindfulness, and has some incredibly practical tips on using technology to live more intentionally - flipping on its head the idea that technology is only good for distraction and faux-connection.  Such a wide-ranging and beautiful conversation, that is certain to leave you feeling inspired and motivated to continue the quest for your own version of a 'good life'.  Head over to the blog for links to Jonathan's manifesto, his new book and The Good Life Project.  Enjoy! ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support it, leave a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to the Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This month’s Slow Home Experiment is proving to be quite the emotional roller coaster for Ben and Brooke! After a strong start and a shaky Week 2, last week felt good, while this past week has been a real stretch. Brooke tries to talk Ben down from his decluttering-related tantrum while remaining stoically upbeat, but even she has to admit this week has been tough. It’s also important to Brooke that this doesn’t become a different kind of obsession with stuff (the letting go as opposed to the holding on) as Ben shares the fact that he’s actually feeling unpleasantly obsessed with decluttering at the moment. It’s not all bad news though, as they have some big areas to tackle during the final week of the experiment (and Ben has some “Trump decluttering” to do) which will offer up clutter they haven’t considered yet, but it’s certainly going to be an interesting time as they try to make the total of 500 items by October 31. Head over to the blog for a full run down of the week’s efforts and a hilarious journey through the month so far (in gif form!) Enjoy! It’s never too late to join in on this month’s experiment, so feel free to tag your social media posts with both #minsgame and #slowhomeexperiment and play along. Enjoy! ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support it, leave a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to the Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brooke chats with the wonderful Kyrstie Barcak - a passionate gardener and educator - about the slow living benefits of growing even one edible plant, and why her personal goal is to see every home growing one thing they can incorporate in to their cooking. Kyrstie and Brooke talk about information overwhelm, garden comparisons, time and the steep learning curve of growing your own food, and why starting small is the best way to slowly find a level that works for you. Brooke talks about her own experiences with gardening, and how, even though she didn’t realise it at the time, it was actually a practice in mindfulness which helped her recover from post natal depression. Kyrstie also has some great advice for people who want to grow just one thing but don’t know where to start - including some suggestions for hard-to-kill starter plants and her never fail tips on caring for your plant once you’ve got it in the ground. Head over to http://www.slowyourhome.com/112 for links to the awesome resources mentioned in today’s episode, as well as links to Kyrstie’s blog and book. Enjoy! ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support it, leave a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to the Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In last week’s episode Ben and Brooke spoke about how tough they’d been finding this month’s decluttering experiment, and how they’d gone from confident to concerned in the space of a few days. This week sees them back in confident mode after a significant shift in their attitude towards their stuff. Brooke realised she’d been making a lot of assumptions about the things they’d held on to over the years, but as she started viewing their stuff with a more dispassionate eye this week, it became clear that they really were just assumptions and there was a lot they could let go of. They also talk about the areas they decluttered this week, Ben talks about his trump card for the final few days of the experiment, and the absolute glut of clutter they uncovered in the office. Head over to the blog for photos of everything they let go of this week, as well as links to some relevant decluttering posts. This month is already proving to be a really fun experiment that lots of you are joining in on, so please feel free to play along (it’s never too late to start!) and tag your social media posts with both #minsgame and #slowhomeexperiment. Enjoy! ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support it, leave a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to the Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.