I am not sure what group in the 60s sang this lyric but I know I relate to this idea. There was a blackout for an hour last night where I live. There were no street lights , no indoor lights, no radio, TV, or computer. When I got use to the silence and darkness, I thought this is wonderful. I imagined what it was like living in a period before electricity or living in a modern country that has no electricity. What do people do at night? In some places there are no oil lamps or flashlights. There is fire for illumination. That is all. Silence and darkness can be so full. It is an idea to contemplate. I've decided to slow down and stop multitasking. I've decided to do less.
"From Publishers Weekly
A former "speedaholic," an award-winning Canadian journalist advocates living a slower, more measured existence, in virtually every area, a philosophy he defines as "balance." Honoré's personal wake-up call came when he began reading one-minute bedtime stories to his two-year-old son in order to save time. The absurdity of this practice dramatized how he, like most of the world, was caught up in a speed culture that probably began with the Industrial Revolution, was spurred by urbanization and increased dramatically with 20th-century advances in technology. The author explores, in convincing and skillful prose, a quiet revolution known as "the slow movement," which is attempting to integrate the advances of the information age into a lifestyle that is marked by an "inner slowness" that gives more depth to relationships with others and with oneself. Although there is no official movement, Honoré credits Carol Petrini, an Italian culinary writer and founder of the slow food movement in Italy, with spearheading the trend to using fresh local foods, grown with sustainable farming techniques that are consumed in a leisurely manner with good company. The author also explores other slow movements, such as the practice of Tantric sex (mindful sexual union as a road to enlightenment), complementary and alternative medicine, new urbanism and the importance of leisure activities like knitting, painting and music. For the overprogrammed and stressed, slow and steady may win the race.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. "
http://www.carlhonore.com/?page_id=6
Carol Petrini
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/about/carlo_petrini.html
8 comments:
I love this post. I had the same thing happen to me shortly before Christmas. After I lit some candles and cuddled on the couch with the dog I thought, "I wish this would happen more often."
Glad you liked the post.There is nothing like cuddling with doggies, kitties, and two footed animals! Daily cuddle moments are essential.It's good to slow down.
Elizabeth
great idea to slow down; I don't know if it's more valid for the youth of today--considering how they live life, as if there were no tomorrow (and yet their attitude is so powerful, as if they are going to live forever)...but I agree with what you say, that we need more time, less noise and lights, to contemplate...
I've got a turtle that sings that song... That is, when his batteries are charged.
I know how that turtle feels!
Having no electricity changes what we focus on. I don't know what all the ramifications would be if people who are use to technology had no I pods, computers, cell phones etc. even for a day. I know after blackouts in NY. City etc. it has been shown that the birth rate increased nine months later.
Simon & Garfunkel sang that song. I have kind of the opposite problem: tend to move slowly but think way too fast.
"tend to move slowly but think way too fast."
This problem is hard to imagine.
Thanks for the author's names.
Elizabeth
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