#Slow Living

Why Slowness Becomes Precious in Fast Times

Because speed often serves external demands, slowing down can function as resistance. The “Slow Food” movement, launched by Carlo Petrini in Italy (1986), began as a protest against fast food’s standardization and the loss of local traditions; it reframed eating as culture rather than consumption. In the same way, Walker’s slowness implies choosing depth over efficiency when the two compete. This resistance is also reparative. When people slow their routines—walking without multitasking, taking unhurried meals, leaving space between commitments—they often discover not emptiness but recovery: the mind catches up, feelings become legible, and relationships gain room to breathe. [...]

Rediscovering Presence in a Culture of Speed

The evidence for Taylor’s claim often shows up in ordinary scenes: a meal where phones stay out of reach, a walk without earbuds, a conversation where nobody is rushing to conclude. These moments can feel disproportionately nourishing because they restore continuity—between thought and feeling, between person and person. Even brief “micro-pauses” can have this effect. Waiting for the kettle to boil and simply watching steam rise can reintroduce the nervous system to stillness. From there, connection becomes easier, because you’re no longer arriving at others already fragmented. [...]

The Exhilaration of Slowness in a Fast Age

Once you slow down, ordinary life becomes legible again. Details that speed blurs—shifts in light, subtle emotions, the texture of a conversation—come back into focus. This aligns with older philosophical traditions that treat attention as the foundation of a good life; even Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations (c. 170 AD) repeatedly returns to the practice of noticing what is actually happening in the present. In that sense, going slow is exhilarating because it expands the world. The payoff is not just calm; it is richness, the feeling that life is larger when you stop skimming across its surface. [...]

The Invigoration of Slowness in a Fast Age

From presence, the idea naturally expands into agency. In a culture that prizes responsiveness, choosing slowness can be a quiet act of resistance—an insistence that not every demand deserves immediate access to your mind. Rather than retreating from life, going slow can be a way of reclaiming how you meet it, on your own terms. This is why “slow” can feel invigorating: it restores control. When you decide to read without skimming, cook without multitasking, or listen without planning your reply, you’re not doing less—you’re doing one thing with integrity. That concentrated engagement often produces a calmer energy than speed ever could. [...]