How To Be Slow

Jason Newton
Sep 6, 2018 · 2 min read

Get more done and enjoy it at the same time!

I’m listening to a song called ‘Slow’ by a wonderful English singer called Rumer. If you haven’t heard her, her voice has been compared to Karen Carpenter and that’s pretty accurate. It’s early in the morning and her gentle, melancholy voice and the song are perfect accompaniment at this time. However, the mood and the song in general got me thinking about ‘slowing things down’.

In recent years, there have been various movements incorporating the term ‘slow’ with the most well-known probably being the Slow Food movement which started as a reaction to MacDonalds opening in Italy in the 1980s. However, being ‘slow’ isn’t necessarily about being ‘slow’.

“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…” (Carl Honoré)

This concept, which is also part of the mindfulness movement these days, can and has been applied to all kinds of areas in life from art to painting to travel, though I was thinking about applying it to everyday living. I’ve enjoyed reading a lot about minimalism and I particularly like The Minimalists & Joshua Becker & Zen Habits and the prospect of a combination of living ‘slowly’ and ‘minimally’ sounds good for the soul, which can only be a good thing.

And as a reminder, this is Rumer singing ‘Slow’. I’m off to make a coffee. Slowly. Obviously…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSAV2LnT1ro

The Ascent

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Jason Newton

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I write about life, travelling, living in Spain as a foreigner, music and poetry. Taking some time out from Medium at the moment.

The Ascent

A community of storytellers documenting the journey to happiness & fulfillment.

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