FEATURE ARTICLE
< http://www.freepint.com/issues/080905.htm#feature>
"The Slow Movement"
By Alison Scammell
The starting point for this article is Carl Honore's excellent book 'In praise of slow: how a worldwide movement is challenging the cult of speed'. Honore investigates how the 'slow' philosophy is gaining momentum as more and more of us are seeking healthier, more fulfilling, less frenetic lifestyles. His central argument is not that speed is bad but that a balance is required to ensure we all have enough time to do things properly. He advocates living at our own pace by tuning in to our own inner tempo, or 'tempo giusto' - the right speed.
The slow movement (if in fact it can be called a movement) covers a very broad range of issues that touch every aspect of our lives.
Honore discusses the slow approach in relation to food, the environment, health, medicine, sex, work, leisure and parenting. The following is a mere snapshot of some of these issues, along with some selective Internet resources.
For me, the slow philosophy embraces a number of important issues connected with sustainable living - less consumerism and materialism, more spirituality and the importance of enjoying the simple pleasures of life.
Slow Food
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The current preoccupation with all things 'slow' is generally considered to have grown out of Slow Food < http://www.slowfood.com/>, founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy in 1986 as a backlash to the opening of a McDonalds besides the Spanish Steps in Rome. According to the website, Slow Food is 'an international association that promotes food and wine culture, and also defends food and agricultural biodiversity worldwide. It opposes the standardisation of taste, defends the need for consumer information, protects cultural identities tied to food and gastronomic traditions, safeguards foods and cultivation and processing techniques inherited from tradition and defends domestic and wild animal and vegetable species'.
Slow Cities
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Closely affiliated with Slow Food, is the slow city movement, Citta Slow < http://www.cittaslow.net/world/>. The Citta Slow manifesto contains fifty-five pledges aimed at improving the local environment and enhancing the conviviality of an urban area. To achieve the status of a Slow City, a city must agree to accept the guidelines of Slow Food, such as backing local farmers and preserving local culinary traditions. The movement comprises 100 towns and 10 countries working to improve the quality of life for its inhabitants and visitors.
Work
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Attitudes to work are at the heart of the slow philosophy. Although the work-life balance debate is now firmly on the agenda, I am always surprised at how few organisations offer any kind of flexibility, even at the basic level of allowing employees to set their own start and finishing times. An American company recently hit the news for piloting a scheme to allow employees complete freedom in deciding when, where and how long they want to work. Best Buy, an electronics retailer based in Minneapolis, has introduced a 'results oriented work environment' which, providing they get the job done, lets staff work the way they feel is best for them.
Over 13 million working days are lost every year in the UK due to stress. The UK has the longest working hours in Europe as well as the lowest number of public holidays. See the Health and Safety Executive's site for a wealth of statistics and other information on occupational stress: < http://digbig.com/4emnk >.
Thankfully, in terms of working hours, the UK is still a long way off from Japan, a country so notorious for its work culture that it even has a word to describe death from over work (karoshi).
Employers for Work-Life Balance
< http://www.employersforwork-lifebalance.org.uk/>, run by The Work Foundation, sets out the business benefits of good work-life employment policies, which include increased productivity, improved recruitment and retention, lower rates of absenteeism, reduced overheads (through flexible working) and a more motivated, satisfied and equitable workforce. The site is rich in information on the subject, and includes case studies, advice on presenting an argument for work-life policies and an extensive set of links.
Other work-life balance resources
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The Work Life Balance centre < http://www.worklifebalancecentre.org/>
is an independent organisation which grew out of one researcher's work into the problem of executive burnout in the late 1980s and 1990s. The Centre is a source of expertise, support and comment on all of the wide and varied aspects of work life balance, both in the UK and overseas. It now has two distinct, yet complementary, areas of operation. The first is research and education (see the annual 24-7 survey into overworking and its effects on family life and personal health < http://www.24-7survey.co.uk >). The second area of activity is practical intervention work carried out with both organisations and individuals, wherever a work life balance problem has been identified, or is suspected.
'Changing Times' < http://digbig.com/4emfw> is the TUC's free fortnightly email round up of news, resources and case studies on the work-life balance debate.
See also The Equal Opportunities Commission < http://www.eoc.org.uk/>.
Play at Work
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The Institute of Play
< http://www.instituteforplay.com/7playing_at_work.htm> advocates play at work for maintaining well being and improving productivity. See also the Creativity at Work web site < http://www.creativityatwork.com > for the top ten reasons to play at work and why creativity in the work place is so important.
Why work at all?
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There are plenty of good arguments not to work at all. Read Bertrand Russell's 1932 paper 'In praise of idleness' for a radical critique of the work ethic and the proposition of a four hour working day:
< http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html>.
'The Idler' magazine < http://www.idler.co.uk/> is compulsory reading for anyone seriously anti-work. The Idler's editor, Tom Hodgkinson, has also written an enjoyable book, 'How to be idle' billed as 'an antidote to the work obsessed culture which puts so many obstacles between ourselves and our dreams'. Although criticised for embracing smoking and anarchism, it is full of suggestions to slow down and enjoy life more. It has inspired me to take naps during the day (see < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siesta >).
With no apologies for my own idleness, I have cut and pasted the following Amazon's 'customers who bought this item also bought'
recommendations:
* Willing Slaves: How the Overwork Culture Is Ruling Our Lives by
Madeleine Bunting
* The Hedonism Handbook: Mastering the Lost Arts of Leisure and
Pleasure by Michael Flocker
* The Play Ethic: A Manifesto for a Different Way of Living by
Pat Kane
CLAWS (Creating Livable Alternatives to Wage Slavery) < http://www.whywork.org/> is a non-profit support group and resource clearinghouse providing 'access to books and other thought-provoking and inspirational materials'. The organisation's main purpose is 'to encourage people to value leisure, re-think the Puritan work ethic and critically examine other work-related legacies of industrial capitalism'.
Other anti wage slave sites
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The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty in Offices < http://www.nspco.org.uk/nspco.htm>
Citizens Income < http://www.citizensincome.org/>
It's been said that the average office worker spends about two hours a day in non-work related web surfing and personal emailing. The web magazine Anxiety Culture < http://www.anxietyculture.com/> is worth a look during those occasions. It offers a rich supply of anti work view points in the form of articles, jokes, rants, spoof ads and gimmicks.
A typical article in the current issue is called 'How to stop worrying' < http://www.anxietyculture.com/worry.htm>. Actually, they could also have suggested buying some Guatemalan worry dolls from the following (Fair Trade) site < http://digbig.com/4emfx >.
Parenting
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There is increasing evidence that children have too many extra-curricular activities and are losing out on the pleasures of unstructured play < http://digbig.com/4emfy>. Persil's recent 'dirt is good' advertising campaign, cleverly timed to reflect the current trend against children's over scheduling, lists 33 things children should be allowed to do before they are ten:
Health and well-being
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Meditation is one of the most obvious ways of slowing down, providing enormous benefits for mind, body and spirit. Beliefnet provides a mixed faith menu of meditation techniques < http://www.beliefnet.com/story/145/story_14571_1.html >.
Time
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The Society for the Deceleration of Time is the English translation of the Austrian based Vereinzur Verzogerung der Zeit < http://www.zeitverein.com/> whose declared aim is that 'Every member should, regardless of what kind of activity he or she engages in, prolong the time taken for that activity whenever it makes sense to do so. In this, members are assured of the solidarity of the Society as a whole. They should stand up for the right to pause for reflection in situations where mindless activism and vested interests produce solutions which are expedient rather than genuine. They should also do their best to recruit as many new members as possible, thus providing themselves with the necessary support in their immediate environment'.
The Society is at pains to point out that despite its name and the salutary amount of humour with which its members approach very serious matters, it is anything but a joke. The Society does quality research on the phenomenon of time, organises symposia and publishes regularly.
Finally have a look at the website of the Long Now Foundation < http://www.longnow.org/>, a fascinating project to build a 10,000 year clock to promote slower/better thinking.
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Alison Scammell is a freelance copywriter and communications professional with clients mainly in the IT sector. She has written brochures, white papers, newsletters, case studies, articles and web copy for some of worlds largest computer companies. Previously she worked as an information management consultant and has edited/written four books. Contact Alison at < alison@justbeforedawn.com>.
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Best Regards
Robin Jourdan
EAE/Enterprise Engineering
(v/f) 313-845-5316
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