On Slowing Down
The challenges of slowing down in our fast-paced world + daily practices to support
Modern life is pretty fast-paced.
We have radio.
We have television.
We have cell phones.
We have social media.
We have streaming services.
We have a lot of advertisements being put in front of us.
Then, of course, we have traffic, which varies in intensity depending on where we live.
And all of this is happening while most everyone works — at least — 40-hours a week.
That’s a lot of sensory stimulation going on. Compared to how daily life was just 100 years ago, this is a very drastic difference from how our grandparents, great-grandparents, or great-great-grandparents lived.
100 years ago our way of life wasn’t nearly as stimulating.
We mailed letters rather than emails.
We walked rather than drove a car.
And, for the majority of Americans, many mailed letters over calling someone on the phone, as only one-third of homes had a telephone in 1920.
That’s a significantly slower pace of life — and I think about this often. Because, honestly, how sustainable is this pace of life?