I wrote a piece for the Guardian's 'Comment is Free' page yesterday in my role as a Patron of the 'Slow Down London Festival' which I have mentioned previously here. If your last quiet moment to yourself was a bowel movement maybe you too ought to think about slowing down?! Here's what I wrote...
Ever found yourself tutting with dramatically impatient exasperation when the tube countdown display says "Next train four minutes"? Caught yourself grinding your teeth in fury at the snail-like walking pace of the elderly lady tottering along the pavement in front of you? Overheard yourself saying to mates "I haven't stopped/had a minute to spare/even been able to think about it I've been so busy, busy busy"? If your last quiet moment to yourself was a bowel movement, maybe a change of lifestyle pace may not be such a bad idea?
We live in an age where we're increasingly paranoid about being offline, practically twittering our partner's sexual performance "live" to an unsuspecting world. We hurtle from bed to desk to bar and bed again, wolfing sarnies on the hoof, conducting our social lives by text and bemoaning every perceived wasted minute spent waiting for someone or something that has temporarily distracted us from our relentless pursuit of … what? A meaning derived primarily from the fact we haven't an instant to even question the meaning of it all? A sense of fulfilment fuelled by frantic freneticism? An insecurity that idleness equals unimportance? We don't just have no time to stop and stare, we have no time to stop full stop.
Slow down London. Is it a festival or a well-intentioned suggestion? Well, it's both. Over the next 10 days or so, a sensuous smorgasbord of seductively slow events and activities seeks to explore the rewards we might reap from decelerating our wham, bam, thank you ma'am existence a little. Whether it's taking a leisurely stroll through familiar streets at a different pace to reveal new perspectives, sinking your teeth into something succulent and seasonal or enjoying a philosophical excursion into the nature of time and how we value it, we all have something to potentially gain from taking our foot off the pedal.
A life without reflection is like eating a meal without tasting it. Goals might be achieved, stomachs are filled but the opportunity to savour is sadly squandered. This is the way my old family dog used to consume its dinner. A mongrel beagle from the RSPCA, the poor beast had obviously been fed erratically so every morsel put in front of it was not so much eaten as inhaled almost instantly. The craven canine never learned how to enjoy a meal properly so desperate was it to seize the opportunity to eat.
If we are not careful we will end up living our lives the same way. Charging around in a perpetual state of multi-tasking madness we can all too easily miss the moments that really matter. Perhaps it's the winking on of the mental lightbulb with a cunningly creative idea during a stolen chunk of quiet contemplation? Reconnecting with the real fundamentals of family and friends, love and laughter, looking after each other and the world around us? Or remembering why being busy can be a good thing by balancing it with a bit of languid bumbling?
Whatever works for you I suspect slowing down a tad may well make us all a bit happier, sexier, less stressed, better company and possibly even a modicum wiser. The really perverse irony is if we're in too much of a rush to even give it a try.
