A thing I would like to share today is an alternative concept of living which has turned into a small movement with no ambitions to solve global problems or spread its ideas to every single corner of the Earth. Yet I think it has the power to do it. It is called Slow Movement and started in Italy as a protest against opening a McDonalds restaurant in Piazza di Spagna, Rome. Its initial concept was to defend the Slow food idea against the growing chain of Fast food restaurants all around the world. Slow food became a symbol of appreciating the local food, its preparation and taste, the importance of enjoying the time spent cooking and eating and turning it to a social event gathering people.
The Slow movement has now spread to other areas of life and includes Slow travel, Slow cities, Slow reading, Slow art, Slow school, Slow parenting, you name it. I am sure you can continue this list by thinking of a thing or activity which is important to you and putting the word "slow" before it. If you start thinking about it, you will also realise the point of it. In a world which develops quicklier than we can grasp, our deepest needs for inner peace and comfort are rarely met in our daily life. We become the offers of our own rush and desire to achieve as much as possible, at a pace much higher than we can be happy with. Slowing down and giving ourselves a break can give us the satisfaction which most of us find it hard to feel nowadays. Not to speak about the possible positive effects that a global slow movement can have on environment.
Actually what I like most about the Slow movement is that it speaks the language of general human needs which we all share but sometimes find it hard to articulate and often neglect.
I recommend you checking out this website www.slowmovement.com(created by a family running an enterprise called Footprint choices). It gives a short description of most of the topics the Slow movement covers.
I would very much like hearing your opinions, especially of those of you who see all that as difficult to apply for one reason or another. Comments in all languages are more than welcome!
Picture from Flickr, credits to linkalicante
4 comments:
New template :) This one is nice also!
You have a great point - I think in any situation we would win so much if we took the time to take a step back, enjoy, and really think about what we are doing.
I found this blog through a link in the Facebook Slow Movement group, and look forward to seeing what develops here. :) I've been living slowly for a couple of years now, unwittingly before I heard of the "slow" movement: I moved to a small town where what I need can be found within a thirty minute walk, so I've been able to enjoy a more leisurely and healthier lifestyle.
Slow and steady is fulfilling. :)
The other day I've went to get a cake at one of the "Nedelia" places near NDK. There, on the tables they had a magazine whit the main article being about this topic. There was a url to a site - slowdownnow.org - what do you think about it? Is it a sister site to those mentioned by you or something else?
What is difficult for me in applying those theories is that at work (which takes my whole day) everything has to be done better, faster and more accurate. There is a big rush all the time and you just can't go home and instantly slow down. My girlfriend and my mother are making fun of me because I'm so slow preparing the dinner for example. I've tried to explain some things but they simply say, "No, you're just not used to do it faster." What can I say? :)
@smellincoffee, you are absolutely right. Three months ago I moved to a much smaller town than I used to live in (altough moving to a bigger country ;) and I am more than happy. It was difficult to get used to the slower tempo in the beginning but now I feel I belong here somehow. Thanks for following the blog, i hope there will be interesting posts to come!
@Marto, Yeah, I've read some of the articles in this site too, it doesn't have to do with www.slowmovement.com but the idea is more or less the same. slowdownow.org is more jokingly written and can sound a bit unserious at times. Reading it you can easily mistake the slow movement with being lazy and doing nothing. The truth I think is rather that: "You must learn to be still in the midst of activity and to be vibrantly alive in repose." (Indira Gandhi)
As to the rush all around, especially in big cities and big companies, I agree that it's difficult to keep calm in the midst of all that...I think the most important thing is to give yourself the right to be "slow" (it can mean so many things!) and to find some kind of peace inside yourself so that you don't get bothered by people's rush around you.
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