Go Slow

Since the mid 20th century we have been living in the time of The Great Acceleration, where every human activity has been put on fast forward. A concept that society has widely accepted as normal, how life should be lived; learning more, seeking more, making more, consuming more, fitting more in. Searching for ways they believe they can enrich their lives, and pushing others to do the same.

What’s your side hustle?

A question which now dominates the workplace. It seems almost unnatural to focus your efforts on one thing, one job, one task. We put pressure on ourselves and others.

Only to our detriment.

WHO has officially recognised burnout as an occupational phenomenon and other specialists are fully supporting this idea that we are living in a world of destructive tendencies, waging war not only on ourselves but also on the planet that we live in.

Our well being is suffering as is our ecosystem. Our extreme levels of output and lack of consciousness of our impact on the planet has reached levels of severity. In fact Josh Cohen in his novel “Stop working” went as far as describing the emblem of our culture as the Duracell bunny, symbolising our inability to simply pause or decelerate our energy levels – until we suddenly reach breaking point.  

It is time to slow down, consciously.

Modern life has plagued us with fatigue, even to the extremity that we need to fit in that 30 minute yoga class or 10 minutes for meditation – adding to a never ending list of to-dos. This is not slowing down. Slowing down is eradicating this tick box exercise.

Doing more and doing it fast makes everything meaningless, every task is completed superficially without thought, consideration or emotion. It almost becomes an allusion.

This is similar when purchasing from the most commonly consumed industries; fast fashion, fast food and fast travel. They are convenient, but they are addictive and always leave you wanting more. After the initial rush, it quickly becomes insignificant. You are never truly satisfied and it often even leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

We need to take the time to heal, time to reflect and time to refocus our energy on what truly matters. Find moments of contemplation and clarity so we can dig deeper and make better decisions. Let’s stop and think how this shirt made it from runway to hanger so quickly, why this hamburger costs less than a fresh packet of strawberries and how we can feel the emotions of the next place we travel to more genuinely.

If we look at why we are still in love with iconic pieces of art and design, or why we appreciate the buildings that were built centuries ago more than the ones today. It is because they were conceptualised, designed, crafted, manufactured, produced over periods of time. There were moments of aimlessness, moments of creative freedom, moments of standing still.

We are seeing more of our clients, friends, industry peers taking this approach, and wanting us to infiltrate it into the design and experiences we create for them.

So let’s slow down, nurture our mindset and harness the power of emotion more intensely.

Let’s create moments that connect at a deeper level.