What is Slow Living and Why Has it Become Popular?

 

Everyone has heard the term ‘slow living’ but what exactly does it mean, and why are so many people embracing a slow lifestyle?

In a nutshell, the slow living movement began as a reaction to the frenetic pace of modern life. It’s about slowing down and learning to appreciate the small things again.

The key words for slow living are connection, authenticity and mindfulness.

·         Connection with self and others.

·         Authenticity in experiences and relationships.

·         Mindfulness and a commitment to being fully present in the moment.

This movement evolved as a reaction to the ‘live-to-work’ and hyper-connected, consumer-driven culture that has come to dominate throughout the world.

When Did Slow Living Become Popular?

Slow living is hardly a new concept. In fact, everybody lived slowly prior to the industrial revolution because there was no other way.

Even with the major technological developments of the twentieth century, the pace of life was much gentler than it is today. The digital revolution, which really took off at the turn of this century, has dramatically accelerated the way we live and communicate.

Prior to modern distractions and communications, people had time to live more contemplative lives and to be in tune with the natural world. There was more scope to notice the beauty around them and take pleasure in it.

This line from Joyce Kilmer’s 1918 poem captures the essence of slow living for me:

I think that I shall never see / A poem as lovely as a tree

This is not to idealise the past or discount the inventions which have made our lives immeasurably more comfortable, but those of us who can remember what it was like before mobile phones and the internet, sense that something invaluable has been lost.

As a child growing up on the edge of suburbia in the seventies and eighties, I remember riding my bike for hours and being captivated by the sky and trees and birds. These things gave me a feeling of deep peace that I’ve never been able to fully recapture.  

Children today rarely get to experience this kind of solitude and connection with nature. The majority seem to spend their lives inside the house, glued to their devices. They are always online and yet loneliness and depression have reached epidemic proportions among kids and teenagers.

The streets and parks are often empty, and the sound of children's laughter is a fading memory. It makes me sad for what they’re missing, and given the popularity of slow living, I’m not the only one who feels this way.

A Return to Simplicity

The roots of today’s slow living trend can be traced back to the Slow Food movement which arose in response to the opening of a McDonalds restaurant near the Spanish Steps in Rome in 1986. This sparked protests and a huge backlash against the fast-food industry.

Proponents, who now number in the millions, are deeply opposed to the homogenisation of culture. To counteract this they support local, small-scale producers and focus on quality over quantity.

Carl Honore’s 2004 book In Praise of Slown helped forge a link between the Slow Food movement and a much wider group of people who shared the same concerns. Honore endorsed a more mindful and deliberate approach to living. He entreated people to focus on enjoyment and fulfilment rather than ‘productivity.’

The popularity of slow living grew steadily in the years after Honore’s book was published, and then the pandemic hit, and everyone was forced to slow down. For many this was a wake-up call; it provided time and space to reevaluate their priorities and decide what is really important.

What followed was the ‘great resignation’ and a tsunami of ‘quiet quitting’ as people stepped off the corporate treadmill and abandoned the lie we had all been sold that working till we drop in order to keep up with the Jones’ was the only way to exist.

The global cost of living crisis has only added to this disillusionment, although many have been forced back into jobs or had to increase their hours just to survive.

The enduring appeal of slow living can be seen in the popularity of shows like Escape to the Country and Youtube channels like The Cottage Fairy, which has over 1.5 million subscribers. Many continue to dream of an alternative lifestyle that is gentler and more fulfilling, and these programs allow them to live this dream vicariously.

Why Slow Living Matters

The notion that experiences, not material things, are what make us happy might not seem particularly radical, but when our economic system is built on the endless consumption of stuff, it truly has the potential to shake up the established order.

When more people recognise that mass-produced products and the shiny promises of advertising only leave us feeling bloated and unsatisfied, that endless scrolling is a ticket to poor mental health; when increasing numbers of young people are refusing to set foot on the corporate treadmill and office workers are passionately resisting attempts to get them back to the workplace, then something interesting is happening.

As Honore said about slowing down in an interview with Martha Stewart: “It’s actually a profoundly revolutionary [idea] in a roadrunner culture where every moment [in] a day is a race against the clock.”

At its heart, slow living is about returning to balance. For too long the pendulum has swung towards productivity and endless, unthinking consumption at the expense of everything else. This movement is not just a passing fad; it has the potential to change our world and I'm here for it. I hope you are too.