I am a big advocate of The Slow Movement culture that is becoming increasingly popular around the world.
Living slowly gains tons of supporters because it addresses the issue of time poverty which many of us experience these days. Simply speaking, valuable time is being stolen from us by social media, traffic jams or unconstructive actions movies.
Just look around to realize that not only yourself, but many people from different countries around the world have already started slowing down the pace of their lives.
What is The Slow Movement?
The Slow Movement is a sort of revolution against the modern world’s statement that faster is better.
Instead, The Slow Movement promotes:
- Doing things at the right speed.
- Enjoying the process rather than looking at the final result.
- Trying to accomplish goals as perfectly as possible rather than as quickly as possible.
- Always putting quality over quantity in every aspect of life.
Instead of being in the hurry, stick to the idea of The Slow Movement to appreciate having close relations with other people, searching for connections with nature and often reflecting on the past.
Even though majority of the people tries to imply that you need to speed up to catch up with the rest of the world, basic human needs never change. No matter where you are or how old you are.
The Slow Movement in practice
Buddhism and Taoism, two major Asian philosophical systems, which to some extent emphasize modesty, simplicity, balance, patience, frugality and restrain, are becoming more and more popular in the world today.
People turn into shopping for organic food or growing food by themselves rather than buying mass produced vegetables and fruits contaminated with overdosing pesticides for faster growth.
More and more parents are choosing homeschooling as a way of learning at the slower pace for their children to provide their loved ones with tailored education.
Downshifting, which means accepting less money for fewer hours worked in order to have more free time for the doing important things, is so also becoming common nowadays.
Many world-class athletes are practicing yoga and meditation on daily basis to relieve stress that wealthy sponsors and audience with huge expectations for success put on their shoulders.
As you can see, I am not the only one who thinks that The Slow Movement is great.
The people of The Slow Movement
The ‘slow people’, are getting tired of homogenization and globalization. That is why they voluntarily choose simplicity over seeking joy in blind materialism.
The supporters of The Slow Movement do not want to look the same as thousands of other people wearing identical clothes sold to the masses around the world by clothing store chains.
They do not want to live in the office blocks which have hundreds of apartments furnished exactly in the same way. Neither they do not want to taste the same flavors when go traveling to another country and having a sandwich or coffee.
They would rather seek to improve the quality and enjoyment of living their lives on their own terms. Appreciating local diversity rather than living in a single world society wherein individual happiness barely exists. Or if it does, it is dictated by greed for profits.
In summary, The Slow Movement is an amazing concept because it helps people to recognize that disconnection from others, nature and even our own emotions, accompanied by life’s fast pace, are unwanted state of affairs.
Living slowly also gives you the right mindset and attitude to rethink your priorities, and the way you want your life to be. Check here how to practice slow living.
