“There is more to life than simply increasing its speed.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi
You may have noticed and hopefully felt the growing movement toward “taking things slow.”
Some would argue that it’s not happening fast enough, but pushing it would surely be missing the point!
The Slow Movement started with a small but powerful group (led by Carlo Petrini) who decided to push back against the glorification of “fast.”
They observed that the obsession with “fast” was colliding with and potentially destroying a deeply-held cultural passion: food. The Slow Food movement was born. Leave it to our Italian models to lead the charge in defending the importance of slowing down to enjoy food. But of course it goes well beyond the pleasure of food itself and is represents a resistance to the fast life that values speed over taste, over community, over the environment, over the balance we know to be central to human well-being. This grass roots initiative now has more than a million supporters in more than 150 countries.
The Slow Movement also expanded into other areas to include Slow Cities, Slow Design, Slow Education, Slow Family, and Slow Life (to name only a sample) reflecting people’s concern that “fast” as a culture was not delivering on the promise of a better life and might actually be destroying it.
People in large numbers were questioning whether they were seeing any real value from the speed and efficiency of the harried lives they were living (the proposed installation of a McDonald’s near the Spanish steps merely accelerated their thinking!). Were they really gaining any time back for themselves, were they any more satisfied with what they were accomplishing with their lives, were they able to spend more time with the families they cherished, were they any happier?
The answer for many: a resounding no!
So in growing numbers people are taking back their lives. Starting with taking back time by slowing down.
And how mights slowing down create the potential for happier, more satisfying lives?
Interestingly, the movement isn’t driven by specific outcomes but rather by principles and ways of acting, of producing, or of living our lives and releases control over the outcomes (sounding pretty psychologically healthy already?) Here are a few of those principles:
Slowing down for enjoyment – to taste the tastes, enjoy the sites, hear the words, feel the connection, drink in the whole natural and human landscape.
Slowing down “for nothing.” To allow ourselves restorative time, time for self-care with no strings attached.
Slowing down to reflect on long-term impact before choosing a course of action. Will this support the life I want over the long term? Is it a sustainable path?
Voluntary simplicity: what if I focused my time and attention on fewer things? what if I had fewer things? what would they be? how would that feel?
Balance and synergy across multiple values and goals. Are my actions and choices linked to a number of my values and priorities (efficiency and focus that doesn’t require hurry).
Non-standardization: connected also to balance and letting go of outcomes, when each person, community or business defines its driving values (e.g. individual, social, environmental harmony) the outcomes will look different and this is ok even valuable.
Dematerialization: in its essence what is my enjoyment and satisfaction in life really connected to? what are the true material costs of reconnecting? what would I gain back by releasing myself from the material? At its root the principle recognizes the non-material nature of human wellbeing.
If you’ve been contemplating how to address that feeling of “time poverty” in your life consider:
Slowing down to ask yourself: when do I feel happiest, most satisfied, when is life most rewarding to me (on my terms?)
The 2nd perhaps more challenging step – where can I simplify, what can I let go of to refocus, slow down, and reconnect with the fewer things that really matter?
The 3rd most surprising step – start to you start to let go, slowly but surely and reconnect with the sites, sounds and feelings of your happiness. May be easier than you expected!
One thing’s for sure – if you’re interested in getting started, there’s no time like the present.
“How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?” ~ Dr. Seuss
happiness contagion mission 