Kindred spirits
Mar 26th, 2008 by francis
There are some excellent other places to visit which touch themes close to our heart, and I’d like to spend a little time in this article looking at them. We’ll come back and explore each of these sites in more depth in later articles.
The bible of the Slow movement is Carl Honore’s excellent In Praise of Slow. You can see Carl’s site here, and learn about his new book out in March 2008: it’s called Under Pressure and it’s about childhood in the 21st century. Carl’s also developing Slow Planet, which plans to be a global hub for the Slow revolution…very much looking forward to this site going live, and when it does we’ll post more about it here.
Slow Down Now is the almost serious antidote to workaholism, and features a beginners guide to slowing down, a manifesto for a slower lifestyle, and all sorts of other good stuff. You can sign up to their announcement list to hear about when new stories are featured on the site (a leisurely paced four to six weeks). Don’t forget to check out Christopher’s excellent Slow Down Now blog, too.
The Idler have been doing this sort of thing for years. It’s a bi-annual, book-shaped magazine that campaigns against the work ethic, and wants to return dignity to the art of loafing, to make idling into something to aspire towards rather than reject.Tom Hodgkinson’s How To Be Idle and How To Be Free are books which develop and expand upon the Idler’s philosophy.
Anxiety Culture is a web magazine with a wealth of ideas and gimmicks for navigating the crazy, paranoid, work-obsessed, media-crapulent times we live in.
Slow Leadership may at first appear like another blog about leadership in business, but it’s a trojan horse, bringing ideas about humane and slow approaches to work right into the heart of The Beast. From the same people, I think, is Slower Living, a site of thoughts, tips and ideas for those who want to slow down and savor life to the full.
Part of the reason for slowing down and fighting the tide of must do when do shall do should have done is to achieve a life that has more joy in it. Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project is a memoir about the year she spent test-driving every principle, tip, theory, and scientific study she could find.
Do spend some time meandering around these sites. They’re well worth it. Then afterwards, make a cup of tea or coffee, and spend some time just gazing out of the window. That’s worth it too.