Ailyak: The Bulgarian Word for the Subtle Art of Slow Living

Perhaps the only way to live mindfully

Photo by Lachlan Dempsey on Unsplash

“Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.” says, Henry David Thoreau. And this is possible by, first and foremost, facing life with courage, valuing both it and ourselves, and understanding our character.

I will not pretend to be someone else. I am a city dweller. I never dreamed, never intended, to live near a quiet beach town, or in a small village. For me, bus stations, airports, and cafes lined up by crowded squares or streets are the most beautiful places in the world. The more people there are, the better for me. Because I love to study people.

I don't want to be misunderstood. I don't study people to pass judgment. On the contrary, I'm writing about them because I adore them. I observe how they walk, how they style their hair, what they wear, how they speak and smile, in short, everything. I imagine their personalities and day-to-day lives. Are they happy or angry when they wake up in the morning? What is their most intriguing characteristic? What foods do they despise? When did they possibly have their first relationship? What makes them unhappy?

I examine people by asking myself these and thousands of other questions silently. People are my passion; they are the subject of my art and the source of my life. That's why I can never stay away from social life.

The city, on the other hand, is like someone who needs to get somewhere quickly, and the hustle and bustle just drags us along without telling us where we're going. This is making me dizzy. Living in the city but at a slower pace works for me. Maybe that's why I chose writing as a career. I have control over my speed, location, and mode. I have the ability to slow down time. I can appreciate where I am. I can walk while listening to the sound of birds. To slow down as much as is necessary to live life properly. This is what I want.

In Bulgarian, they named the subtle art of living life slowly. Ailyak

Of course, terms with this meaning exist in other languages as well. In Italian, for example, Dolce far Niente. So that's the beauty of doing nothing. However, ailyak also sounds nice. It's from a language we're not familiar with, naive and archaic.

The term "Ailyak" is thought to have originated in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv. Plovdiv is Europe's oldest living city and one of the world's six oldest. Since 6000 BC, people have lived here. Walks through the mature atmosphere of old buildings; friendly visits with neighbors; home conversations in the winter evenings; houses filled with the aroma of homemade meals away from the hustle and bustle, visits to the beautiful corners of life. It sounds good enough to be a balm for all the wounds that our modern world has opened in our souls and personalities.

All the ancient peoples of the world emphasize the importance of living slowly. There must be a valid reason for this, right?