{"id":16147,"date":"2026-10-05T21:02:26","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T21:02:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carolhollandmarch.com\/?p=16147"},"modified":"2026-10-06T16:44:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T16:44:36","slug":"slowing-down-saying-no","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carolhollandmarch.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/05\/slowing-down-saying-no\/","title":{"rendered":"Slowing Down, Saying No"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carolhollandmarch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/the-great-refusal-1.jpg\" rel=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4yelfBu\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"182\" height=\"211\" src=\"https:\/\/www.carolhollandmarch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/the-great-refusal-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-16149\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>I read a new book by Casey Gerald, a successful and talented professional who closed a thriving nonprofit organization to discover the path of his heart. <em>The Great Refusal<\/em> chronicles his journey from entrepreneur and media darling to a guy taking a walk every day as he figures out what is true for him.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>To refuse what we are supposed to be doing is to embrace what we really want.&nbsp; On the other side of No is a tantalizing YES.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Yes to what is not practical.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Yes to what might be useless, stupid, not feasible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>And Yes to the object of our desire.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When Casey said, refusal is devotion to the vision of your good, I sat up and paid attention.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My vision of the good. Not yours. Not anyone\u2019s.\u00a0 Is this a selfish thought?\u00a0 Or the only rational response to a culture disintegrating right in front of us? One that is happy to tell us that black is white, up is down, and wonders why we don&#8217;t see it their way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The artists know why. The writers know. The dreamers of all persuasions know that to follow the heart is to live a worthwhile life, even if it doesn&#8217;t bring riches or recognition.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of my literary mentors, Ursula Le Guin, said,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cTo make something well is to give yourself to it, to seek wholeness, to follow spirit. To learn to make something well can take your whole life. It\u2019s worth it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Along with opting for a life lived with spirit comes the next obvious step, one that is hard to reconcile with our faster than ever lifestyles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Slow down.&nbsp; Make time.&nbsp; Make space.&nbsp; Discriminate.&nbsp; What is important for the work of my soul? What is simply busywork?&nbsp; Or tasks accepted so I will be accepted?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What part of me am I not expressing?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m one of the lucky ones.&nbsp; I know what I\u2019m supposed to be doing.&nbsp; My challenge is time, commitments, making choices, saying no.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m making progress. Step by step, I change my outer life so it can support the inner life waiting to be expressed.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>I do my work.\u00a0 Every day. Doing a little is better than doing nothing.\u00a0The results may not be measurable, but they are clear.\u00a0 I feel better. Happier.\u00a0 More content with small victories. I like myself more.\u00a0 I judge less.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The advantages of stepping off the merry-go-round of over-committed calendars to put in regular time on our creative pursuits are well-documented.&nbsp; With so many positive reasons to say no to the demands of the outer and yes to the whispers of the inner, I have no rational reason to refuse the inner call.&nbsp;I want and deserve:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Less stress<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>More ability to experience the timelessness of \u201cflow\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mental flexibility<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Better problem-solving<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>More confidence and self-esteem<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Less judgment and comparison<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>More satisfaction with my quality of life<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>T<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4yelfBu\">h<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/s?k=the+great+refusal&amp;crid=1LK0N3F12AY0F&amp;sprefix=%2Caps%2C456&amp;linkCode=ll2&amp;tag=carholmar-20&amp;linkId=3c70946d8aa20d3b50820999b70113a3&amp;language=en_US&amp;ref_=as_li_ss_tl\">e Great Refusal<\/a> chronicles how Casey Gerald answered the call of spirit.&nbsp;I learned a lot from his words.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I read a new book by Casey Gerald, a successful and talented professional who closed a thriving nonprofit organization to discover the path of his heart. The Great Refusal chronicles his journey from entrepreneur and media darling to a guy taking a walk every day as he figures out what is true for him.&nbsp; To &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carolhollandmarch.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/05\/slowing-down-saying-no\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Slowing Down, Saying No&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.2.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Slowing Down, Saying No - Carol Holland March<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.carolhollandmarch.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/05\/slowing-down-saying-no\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Slowing Down, Saying No - Carol Holland March\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I read a new book by Casey Gerald, a successful and talented professional who closed a thriving nonprofit organization to discover the path of his heart. 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