Slowdown: The End of the Great Acceleration-and Why It's Good for the Planet, the Economy, and Our Lives

Product Information

I’m a UK-born writer, adventurer, reader, and author of Mountain Songand Simple Business. Since 2021, I’ve lived in Copenhagen. Wintering is also about embracing the winter season itself – from taking icy swims in the sea to learning to spot the subtle Northern Lights. Embracing the harshness of winter is a metaphor for embracing life’s troubling periods. At timely occasions, what saves the book from serious academic tedium is Dorling's ever present humour, glimpsing through in unmistakably British phrases. "It is, of course, always ”too early to say” until you know, and then it is obvious." Ponder that.

I personally found especially the chapters on Rest and Mindfulness interesting, but in general Sunim advocates being a gentler, empathic and more perceptive person. There was one passage that I particularly enjoyed, which made me think about how similar every humans experience of being human ultimately is, despite how different all of our lives may seem: Buku ini dibagi menjadi beberapa bagian. Sebenarnya semua saling berhubungan, hanya saja cara pembawaannya yang menggunakan studi kasus atau story telling difokuskan pada kasus tertentu. Misalnya dalam membahas tentang Relationship atau hubungan antar manusia. Selepas studi kasus, Haemin Sunim memberikan semacam short passage yang patut untuk direnungi. Membacanya mungkin tidak sampai satu menit, tetapi kalau dibaca tanpa dipikirkan oleh pembaca, diresapi atau coba untuk diinternalisasi, pesan itu juga tidak akan berimbas banyak. Much of the book, as one might expect, spirals around spirituality and religion, two topics which do not particularly appeal to me as an atheist. I did find that Sunim came across as rather preachy at times, which did not endear me to him. However, he suggests meditation as a way to grasp one's own consciousness of the world and their place within it, which, I felt, was quite a nice piece of advice which could be easily worked into even a hectic day. Some of his ideas are nice, and he is clearly passionate about what he is writing about, however, so there is a nice balance to be found within. It does seem at times as though Sunim was merely working through his own insecurities whilst writing, and several of the asides seem downright obvious. Perhaps most surprising of all is the fact that even as new technologies frequently reshape our everyday lives and are widely believed to be propelling our civilization into new and uncharted waters, the rate of technological progress is also rapidly dropping. The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down has been split into several sections - 'Rest', 'Mindfulness', 'Passion', 'Relationships', 'Love', 'Life', 'The Future', and 'Spirituality'. Each chapter opens with an essay, which muses upon the subject in question and how best Sunim thinks we should approach it, and is then followed by a series of short pieces, 'words of advice and wisdom'.

Menjadi tenang di dunia yang sibuk rasanya sudah makin menjadi kebutuhan. Kita seringkali mengejar sesuatu hanya karena sekitar kita memiliki pencapaian tersebut. Tetapi kita lupa bahwa pencapaian bisa berbeda untuk setiap orang. Kita lupa bahwa kebahagiaan menjadi sesuatu yang penting di dalam hidup ini (lagi, definisi bahagia pun sangat luas). We forget how to simply be. How to immerse ourselves in whatever is in front of us. How to truly engage in face-to-face conversation, personal connections and true down-time. And we are burning out. We are addicted to this digital connection. We are afraid that if we unplug we will miss out on something.” Rest is Resistance shows how grind culture brainwashes you to equate your self-worth with productivity and material wealth. When we begin to live more slowly, we find we have time to look within—space unfolds and allows us to deeply think and reevaluate things. We have time to think about the purpose and meaning within our lives, and naturally, we become more intentional and thoughtful with the decisions we make.” As she spends days alone in the wilderness, growing an organic kitchen garden, and restoring a neighbourhood creek, Tweit notices the connections between the natural processes and cycles all around her and those of her own body.

While Dorling’s book can be overly optimistic in some of its predictions, the arguments contained in Slowdown are insightful and often highly persuasive. While the terrifying spread of COVID-19 has focused global attention on the short-term effects on the coming months and years in anticipation of climbing death tolls or salvation via a vaccine, Slowdown will refresh readers with a hopeful long-term vision for humanity. The COVID-19 crisis will call for a grand re-evaluation of how we work, how we enjoy leisure and how we reward workers who provide services we consider ‘essential’. Published in the midst of a global pandemic, Dorling’s book is a well-timed forecast that the storm will eventually subside and humankind will advance towards an era of peace and stability for all. I find the book way too Long and some of the points repeated as nauseam. It could have been a more concise book. I also cannot agree with some of his points, that economic growth will stop. Well maybe that is because 20 years ago when I wanted to go to a trip to Europe, I first needed to go to the Travel agency to book my trip. Then I go the bookshop or library to get the latest Lonely Planet. I prayed then that our hotels would be nice, and the recommended restaurants were actually good. I tried to look for taxis on the street. I needed to plan everything way in advance. Not to mention getting lost all the time with the map provided by the hotel. Regardless of whether you have a different worldview than others, it's important that you try to connect with them. In this way, you are able to connect with many types of people you never imagined and create long-lasting bonds. Two spiritual paths in the same FamilyRecommended for: anyone interested in how society began to speed up, why that’s not always a good thing and what’s being done about it. Featured quotes: