Emails pile up, notification sounds ping, traffic honking, our days blend into one long uneventful day. People find themselves searching for a moment of quiet, surrounded by the calmness of nothing, yet they find themselves unable to function in silence, our mental wiring has gotten used to being overstimulated, that a minute of nothing feels like an eternity.
Slow living is not laziness; it is the art of slowing down in a busy world. The human brain is not built for the endless input of modern life, it is programmed to expect rest after stress, so the constant stimulation causes the brain to enter a state of chronic activation that could be interpreted as perpetual emergency.
Our mornings used to be characterised by the calm atmosphere, the kettle hissing as the windows let in the morning rays. The slow movement is a cultural movement that advocates for the reduction of the fast-pace of life, encouraging a more intentional approach to life. Started in the 1980s in Italy, the movement was initially a protest against fast food, which later sprouted into subculture of slow life. The popularity of the concept expanded into fashion, work, travel and leisure. It championed minimalism and prioritised quality.
Speed kills nuance
The creative industries have always understood the art of slowing down. Artists let their art sit before they go further with it, a writer returns to a first draft after a while to edit it. Giving our thoughts the space to rewire and form new ideas results in creativity at its peak. The few moments in which we let our human brain produce more are what matters the most, yet we find ourselves and our ideas copies of already existing ones.
Learning from sloths
A well-known movie called Zootopia has sloths as bank staff. Customers get agitated at the slowness of their actions, even their blinks took more screen time. Some people advise you to be one for a little while, give your mind a break and be a sloth, do everything at 0.0001 of its actual speed. A characteristic of slow life is intention. Eat slowly with no distractions, drive in silence, read a boring book and sit with your thoughts. Embracing slowness doesn’t require dramatic changes, but slow steps that deinfluence our lives.
Here are 3 ways you can achieve a slow life:
Declutter Your Schedule
A packed schedule leaves no room for your nervous system to rest, which can cause high levels of stress and anxiety, possibly affecting sleep quality and mind clarity. Instead of packing your schedule, declutter and fully finish the first subject before starting the other. Take a walk in between tasks, sit with your thoughts for a minute and reflect on your day. Rest sharpens focus, reduces stress and improves clarity.
Unplug Regularly
The constant digital noise is a huge factor contributing to the over stimulation of the brain. Reel after reel, our minds become accustomed to the short moments of adrenaline, which ruin our attention span as the cognitive system gets used to short lived adrenaline rush. Step back from the torrent of videos and let silence do its work.
Start A Hobby
Find something you do purely out of joy, a habit not for a specific goal or deadline. Find a way to express yourself with no profit whatsoever. Let the main goal be detaching and doing something purely with the intention of letting your brain rest and enjoy something. The freedom of doing something with no reason or benefit other than enjoyment, even if it was not perfect. Freedom of imperfection is the first source of creativity.
In a frantic world, slowness is not just a luxury, but a necessity, a form of resistance, or perhaps our best hope at creating things that matter.
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