Welcome to Slow Stories
Slow Stories began as a podcast and, with the introduction of this newsletter, has expanded into a personal journal that includes letters about time, creativity, and pace. You’ll also find Notes and stories on intentional style, art, and living.
As a subscriber, you’ll receive podcast episode updates, book news/behind-the-scenes diaries, essays, visual stories, and more. Opting into a paid subscription will give you access to the full archive plus exclusive content. It’s the best way to help me sustain and grow this project. (You can also show your support by ordering a copy of my book, Slowing.)
I've meditated on whether it's right for me to start a newsletter in this often fast-moving, saturated landscape, but I've come to envision this as my third creative place—an ever-evolving space to slow down, write, reflect, and commune with you. Thank you for being here.
— Rachel
Slow Stories is a true labor of love. 🐌📖💌 Consider becoming a paid subscriber to unlock the entire newsletter archive and receive exclusive content. Your subscription will enable me to continue writing Slow Stories—and producing the podcast. As of Spring 2025, some Slow Stories letters/notes will include affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission, but there’s no additional cost to you. Thank you so much for your support.
ABOUT ME
I’m a writer, author, and creator based in Brooklyn, New York. My first book, Slowing, was published by Chronicle Books on September 17, 2024—and I’m currently working on a novel. I also write about art, books, design, and fashion, and my essays and interviews have appeared in BOMB Magazine, Coveteur, Literary Hub, TOAST Magazine, Suleika Jaouad’s The Book of Alchemy, and elsewhere. You can read more about my work in outlets including ELLE, Vogue, Condé Nast Traveler, and The Creative Independent.
💌 rachelmschwartzmann@gmail.com
🤳 @rachelschwartzmann
🖥️ https://rachelschwartzmann.com/
ABOUT MY BOOK
Slowing (9/17/24, Chronicle Books)
For Rachel Schwartzmann, slowing down has changed her story in ways she could have never imagined. In this poignant and timely collection, she invites us to step away from the turmoil of daily life and awaken to the pleasures of living and creating with intention.
Her captivating essays reveal how slowing down positively affects our minds, relationships, and work, and contributions from a wide range of luminous voices in art, food, design, and beyond—including Sophia Roe, Leah Thomas, and Jezz Chung—explore the magic that emerges when we intentionally shift our relationship to time and productivity culture. Page after page, Slowing is a balm for the stresses of modern life and a rousing call to experience the beauty and joy of slow living.
PRAISE FOR SLOWING
“Slowing combines memoir, interview, and instruction for a volume that feels more like an invitation than a guide. Rachel Schwartzmann wants to coax her readers to recognize slowing as something essential, powerful, and transformative—rather like time itself.”
- ELLE Magazine
“A thoughtful, intentional work filled with reflections and learnings, Slowing serves as much a guide as it does a reminder: Through quieting and easing, we find enrichment and deeper truths—and ultimately, ourselves.”
- Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper
“Establishing Schwartzmann as an exceptional literary voice, Slowing weaves a stunning tapestry which honors the beauty that surfaces when the mundane is made magical.”
- Girls on the Page
“In a day and age where ‘busy’ is a badge and productivity is paramount, Rachel Schwartzmann’s Slowing is an enchanting and soulful examination of what matters most: time, joy, creativity, and feelings. This is a beautiful book, filled with optimism and light.”
- Debbie Millman, author of Why Design Matters and host of the podcast Design Matters
“The first half-sentence I fell in love with was ‘Worries attach themselves to mailbox keys,’ and everything that followed was a considered balm, though one that provoked such varied thought. Slowing holds awareness and secrets and a close attention, but more than anything, it is such a soft place to land.”
- Ella Frances Sanders, New York Times and internationally bestselling author and illustrator of five books, including Lost in Translation and Everything, Beautiful
“Rachel Schwartzmann brings a calm, deep, and intentional intelligence to the interviews she does for her [project], Slow Stories. Slowing, an ingeniously interlaced collection of personal essays, interviews, and creative prompts that hit like quiet firecrackers, offers that same steadying feeling. Reading it is the closest I’ve come to experiencing words as focused meditation.”
- Brandon Stosuy, co-founder of The Creative Independent, Editor of Sad Happens, and author of Make Time for Creativity, Stay Inspired, and How to Fail Successfully
“A thoughtful, introspective approach to writing, creating, and being aware of one's own intentions. The accessible daily prompts will help both those who are feeling stuck and those who are looking to dive a level deeper into their work. Rachel Schwartzmann has created a new kind of map which can lead us closer to ourselves.”
- Chelsea Hodson, author of Tonight I’m Someone Else
“Both a reflective guide and a stirring meditation on time, connection, and pace, Slowing shares thoughtful prompts and stories that draw readers inward—to what captures their attention, to what ordinariness sustains them, and to creativity that’s been unfolding within their lives all along.”
- Rainesford Stauffer, journalist and author of All the Gold Stars and An Ordinary Age
