Hello Friends,
This blog is my response to the task assigned to us by our Prof. Dr.DilipSir in the thinking activity based on 'The Culture of Speed and the counter culture of Slow Movement', Paul Virilio's Dromology - the study of speed and on Ted talk by Honore on Slow Movement. So, read, understand and enjoy. Happy Learning!
TED-Talk on 'In Praise of Slowness'
Journalist Carl Honore believes the Western world's emphasis on speed erodes health, productivity and quality of life. But there's a backlash brewing, as everyday people start putting the brakes on their all-too-modern lives.
Click below link to view DilipSir's blog
My Interpretations on Ted talk by Carl Honore
Honore begins his talk with an interesting observation
"What I'd like to start off with is an observation, which is that if I've learned anything over the last year, it's that the supreme irony of publishing a book about slowness is that you have to go around promoting it really fast. I seem to spend most of my time these days zipping from city to city, studio to studio, interview to interview, serving up the book in really tiny bite-size chunks. Because everyone these days wants to know how to slow down, but they want to know how to slow down really quickly. "
So, Honore published his book 'In Praise of Slowness' and has to rush down because people wanted to get slow down very quickly! He has observed his own life and his surroundings, wake up call came to him about slowing down when he saw book called "One minute bed time story", and his battle every day with his speed and slowness of his son. It was really disheartening for him to not able to give enough time to his son and as he said that children take their own time to open up and speak something.
It's observed everywhere in western countries and where there is modern life style, people are so busy and so fast that they forget to enjoy their life. It seems that life has become robotic, people have become machines, no time to enjoy the life, it leads to boredom, depression and devoid of emotions. Then question arises in our mind is that
"Are we living our life to the fullest?
Are we living really or simply existing?
Are we enjoying our life?"
The answer for most will be "A BIG NO". So, along with the increasing lifestyle and modern ways, methods, techniques, technology, we also have become more like machines, moving very quickly, very fast. But it's like a circle, we are moving but leading no where except moving along the same circle over and again. In fact in midst of all these we're even forgetting our family and friends. Why so fast? Why so much of hurry? It only leads to not enjoying what is passing by us, and lots of mental burden.
Infact, we are working to get more financial gains, to live a more comfortable and luxurious life. But working behind all these we forget to get enough time to enjoy all these. We are becoming a part of race and the race never ends but only leads to more and more complex situations. It's like a puzzle and once we get into it, there is no way to get out. The burden on all of us has increased so much that we have to do overtime, children are burdened with lots of things to study and lots of homework and pressures of exams that they get no time to play.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
This is a beautiful proverb though the exact origins of the phrase remain unclear, though it was recorded as early as 1659. It means that children also need so time to play and if they are constantly burdened with studies, they cannot become creative, productive, and by doing this we're preventing the overall development of child.
Even though we think that world is advancing in all forms like that in science, technology, digitalization, engineering, robotic science and in many other fields but on other hand we are paying a heavy price for it. It involves the life span of many. People have given their whole life working behind all these things. They are working till late nights, some of them have to leave their families to do job or for education in a foreign country just to get more better and qualitative methods and better facilities. So, progess at the cost of our own happiness, at the cost of our loved ones.
Even though we cannot suddenly change our life and ways and the work we are doing, but we can definately adjust a bit and spend some time to smell the flowers, to see the clouds moving, to feel the breeze, to look around and observe trees, flowers and the beauty of Earth. To teach our kids to enjoy nature, to play with them rather than leaving them in the hands of babysitter all the time. To spend some time with family like having dinner together, to go for picnics and traveling together rather than being in social media all the time.
Infact traveling freshens our mind and helps us to work more efficiently than before. A break to continue with more enthusiasm. It helps us to forget our worries about past and future and helps us to enjoy the moment. It helps us to relax and makes us happy. So a break from the hustle and bustle of daily work life is a must.
It’s important to remind ourselves that we should be in the present more and enjoy each moment. That’s the path to happiness according to Buddha as happiness is not a destination but a state of mind.
Here is the poem Slow Dance by David L. Weatherford.
Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.
Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask: How are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done,
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You’d better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.
Ever told your child,
We’ll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say, “Hi”?
You’d better slow down
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.
When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through the day,
It is like an unopened gift thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower.
Hear the music
Before the song is over.
Because we're living in a world where it has become essential to meet up some standards of living, to live a qualitative life, to keep ourselves on the top in a very high competitive world, it has become essential to keep ourselves in very high speed all time but on other hand to maintain a balance of mental and physical health it is important to balance our life between speed and slowness. If we're able to maintain our life between slow and fast, to manage work life and personal life, to keep a balance between work and home, to maintain family and real friends apart from social media then it's a real great success.
Although it's not so easy and not everyone's cup of tea to get a balance between all aspects of human life but with some basics steps one can surely reach better levels of life where the outcome is more productive, and life is more meaningful and fruitful.
Slow Movement: A Cultural Shift towards Slowing Down Life's Speed
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.
Examples of slow and fast
Fast and Slow Twitch Muscle Fiber With Performance
(Elizabeth Quinn)
Are you a better sprinter or a distance runner? Can you be great at both? Many people believe that having faster or slow-twitch muscle fibers may determine what sports athletes excel at and how they respond to training.
Slow-Twitch Muscle Fibers (Type I)
The slow-twitch muscle fibers are more efficient at using oxygen to generate more adenosine triphosphate (ATP) fuel for continuous, extended muscle contractions over a long time. They fire more slowly than fast-twitch fibers and can go for a long time before they fatigue.
Because of this, slow-twitch fibers are great at helping athletes run marathons and bicycle for hours.
Fast-Twitch Muscle Fibers (Type II)
Because fast-twitch fibers use anaerobic metabolism to create fuel, they are better at generating short bursts of strength or speed than slow muscles. However, they fatigue more quickly. Fast-twitch fibers generally produce the same amount of force per contraction as slow muscles, but they get their name because they are able to fire more rapidly.
1,628 Words.
Works Cited
1. Barad, Dr.Prof.DilipSir. "Slow Movement." Welcome, blog.dilipbarad.com/2020/02/slow-movement.html?m=1.
2. "Slow Dance – Poem by David L. Weatherford." Maslow Wealth, 7 May 2019, maslowwealth.com.au/latest-articles/slow-dance-poem-by-david-l-weatherford.
The motto of the Slow philosophy is - 'The fastest way to a good life is to slow down'.
