Slow movement

“Slow down, you’re movin’ too fast

You got to make the morning last

Just kicking down the cobblestones

Looking for fun and feelin’ groovy”

– Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel,  “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)”

The Slow Movement advocates a cultural shift toward slowing down life’s pace. It began with Carlo Petrini’s protest against the opening of a McDonald’s restaurant in Piazza di Spagna, Rome in 1986 which sparked the creation of  what went on to be known as the Slow Food movement (Slow Food UK HERE). Over time, this developed into an array of tenuously linked subcultures in miriad other areas such as Cittaslow (Slow Cities), Slow Living, Slow Travel, Slow Design, Slow Art, Slow Gardening, Slow Money, Slow Parenting, Slow Schooling, Slow Technology, Slow Blogging etc. etc…. Surely there must be a place here for a new sub-culture – namely inland SLOW boating (as opposed to ocean-going slow boating about which there’s already quite a lot written on the internet)? Apologies in advance to Ikon Arts who used the name Slow Boat HERE for their innovative three year project involving the Ikon Youth Project working with contemporary artists and a converted narrowboat.)

"It is a cultural revolution against the notion that faster is always better. The Slow philosophy is not about doing everything at a snail's pace. It's about seeking to do everything at the right speed. Savoring the hours and minutes rather than just counting them. Doing everything as well as possible, instead of as fast as possible. It’s about quality over quantity in everything from work to food to parenting." — Reda

We are all living in the 8th century and the 8th is the information of the 21st century, the technology of the 21st century, as well as learning to live a fast life.  Slow Moment can find out that doing more fast is sometimes leaving behind a lot of importance in life.  Ants show that we can easily forget to do something that can be done peacefully somewhere fast.

Slow food, slow business, slow cities, slow travel, and slow sex, it seems like everyone is trying to go slow. ‘Go slow to go fast’ is the new mantra – whatever that actually means. (Don’t think about it too much, it will make your head hurt, like a buddhist koan.)

My boyfriend thinks the slow movement is hilarious. He thinks the proponents of ‘slow’ all sound like we are lauding our mental deficits as something to aspire to.

All jokes aside, the slow movement does sound somewhat of an anathema to the usual ideal of striving harder, faster, better. But I don’t think it has to be.

There is more to life than increasing its speed. Mohandas K. Gandhi

According to Wikipedia, The Slow Movement advocates ways to slow down the pace of life. It all started with the Slow Food movement, initiated by Carlo Petrini’s protest against the opening of a McDonald’s in Rome’s Piazza di Spagna, in 1986, and has spread to concepts as broad as medicine, schooling, science, and travel.

When it comes to quality, we find that there is a huge difference between quietly doing work rather than hurrying and the result is that fast work may be unclear, but work done with a slow-paced mind always brings a good result.  Slow Moment is not really based on the nature of the slug but it is really useful for people who are overly egoistic and impulsive and for those who take short cuts to get to life quicker, because even at slower speed, continuous work gives very specific results

#So what is the meaning of slow?

Slow: unhurried, leisurely, measured, moderate, deliberate, steady, sedate, slow-moving, slow-going, easy, relaxed, unrushed, gentle, undemanding, comfortable. Merriam Webster Dictionary

Slowness, but not stopped-ness. Moving with purpose, at times stopping, at times moving faster, if called for, but not racing through just to get to the other side. Like the proverbial chicken crossing the road.

Recently, I feel that I’m being forced to slow down. All aspects of my life – business, work, family, love – seem to be encountering obstacles that are a counter-force to my usual bull-at-a-gate approach to life.

And why would we want to slow down?

Slow is about doing the things we do for the sake of savouring the experience, not just as a expedient means to an end. It’s easy to get so super-efficient that we forget we are supposed to be living life, not doing it.

There’s more to experience than ticking the boxes on our to-do list every day. Behaving with passion, purpose, and presence, is both invigorating to us, and to the activities and relationships we engage in.

Affirmations for slowing down (adapted from personaldevelopmentwisdom.com):

I slow down and I practice being patient.

I trust life. I slow down. I relax. I let go.

I live life at a comfortable pace.

I schedule time to rest, reflect, and recover from the events of the day.

I live my life in a stride that supports me – both mentally and physically.

I am worth the effort it takes to establish and maintain a comfortable pace to my life

Thank you 😊