Love, Slowness, and the Courage to Choose Joy

We’ve just returned from the most beautiful breakfast at The Rock, our favourite place to begin a morning. We were greeted warmly—by name—by both the general manager and the managing director. A jazz duo played softly nearby, weaving Christmas melodies into gentle instrumentals that seemed to slow the room’s heartbeat.

Then a large group of American retirees arrived, their voices filling the space with a volume all their own. Perhaps it’s cultural. Perhaps it’s age. Either way, it was a reminder: life invites us constantly to practise flow. To allow. To soften our need to impose our rhythm on others.

And that, I think, is one of love’s quiet lessons.

Back home at our luxury loft in Boquete, Panama, Laurie drove off in pursuit of his passion—tracking butterflies—while I wandered down to the river. The water was crystal clear, tumbling down from the mountains, coursing over smooth stones and polishing them as it travelled. The river winds its way through all of Boquete, passing by another of our favourite places, Nomad, where we enjoyed dinner last night—intoxicatingly beautiful, nestled among flowers and candlelight.

Earlier today I told Laurie I want to really see the flowers here. Not rush past them. To notice the violets, lavenders, whites, cerise pinks, brilliant reds, orange-reds. There are impatiens like home, and hydrangeas too—but here they bloom in huge, lush, cloud-like forms, not the straggly versions I remember. Hibiscus everywhere. I picked one that had fallen onto the road and carried it with me like a small offering.

Someone said to me recently, “You’re going to miss that view.”
But I don’t. Not for a moment.

Now I look out across terracotta-tiled rooftops toward a sweeping hillside of tropical bush and jungle, rising high like a protective wall. Instead of exposure, there is shelter. Instead of vastness, there is containment. We are cocooned here in Valle Escondido—the Hidden Valley. And it truly is a sanctuary.

We’re staying in a beautiful loft apartment with soaring ceilings—cathedral-high, perhaps ten or twelve metres—white plaster walls, beautiful art, stylish furniture. Everything we need. And yet it’s only a fraction of the size of the house we left behind.

And here’s the thing:
There are no lawns to mow.
No trees to trim.
No endless maintenance.
No jobs, no tasks, no weight of ownership pressing down.

All of that has fallen away.

Laurie looked at me earlier and said, “Your skin is glowing.”
And I realised—it’s true. This is what defragging looks like. Stress releasing its grip. The body remembering ease.

Astrologers talk about Saturn returns—periods of pressure, betrayal, upheaval, transformation. It feels like that river again, polishing stone. Friction doesn’t just harden us. It refines us. It brings a certain softness, a quiet strength.

Where we lived before, the noise had become relentless. Traffic. Boats. Trailers. Late-night speeding. Rubbish. Vapes. Cigarettes. Restlessness everywhere.

Here, there isn’t even a fast-food outlet. No vape stores. No excess. Instead there is joy. Harmony. Beauty. A gentle civility. People wave. “Good morning.” Every time.

Outside my window now, a cheeky little bird hops onto the chair on our terrace. It pecks at the glass as if it wants to come in. Life is busy—but I am not.

And this is where love shows itself most clearly.

Love gives us the courage to choose differently.
To step away from noise.
To trust stillness.
To rediscover joy not as something we chase—but something that rises naturally when we finally stop bracing ourselves against life.

Here, I am learning the wisdom of the sloth.
To move slowly.
To savour.
To belong to the moment.

And in that slowness, purpose returns—quietly, faithfully—like the river finding its way home.

Life in Panama is pretty smooth. It’s super peaceful, and the food here is amazing, and the weather is outstanding. It’s like eternal spring. We’ve met lovely people and are staying in a divine spot, so I can’t complain … great after all that mad rush stress of selling our home and leaving New Zealand.

And yes, I am still creating…my colored pencils came with me and my yellow writing pad and laptop.

When love calls from across the world… 🌍❤️
Read a free romance chapter from the prequel of my new book Love in Panama — slow-burn, forbidden, and impossible to ignore.

👉 https://www.molliemathews.com/read-a-free-romance-chapter-from-love-in-panama/

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