Being and (Doing) Nothingness
Carl Honore, a Canadian, worked as a foreign correspondent for many years in South America and Europe. In his late 20s and early 30s, he was working like a ‘roadrunner’ as he calls it: doing everything as fast as possible.
He recalls trying to read a bedtime story to his child as quickly as possible and realizing that this was not the way he remembered bedtime stories from his childhood. Then, while traveling, he came across a book for the time-poor parent called, “One Minute Bedtime Stories” and a light went on his head. He started rethinking time and his own pace.
He wrote a series of articles about slowing down, and then released a book in 2004, “In Praise of Slow”.
He’s just launched his next book, “Under Pressure” about childhood in the 21st century. For the latest book, Honore traveled the globe observing young people and talking to them about their lives. He says that, very simply, adults have “hijacked childhood.”
Honore was in Taiwan recently at a conference about public art and society called, “Between Fast and Slow”. He took a few minutes out of his day to talk to iCUBED.us' own Jennifer Deayton by phone.
CH: Carl Honore
JD: Jennifer Deayton (interviewer)
JD: You’ve said that, "We're fundamentally striving to do too much." How did we get to this place? Is technology partly to blame?
CH: Technology is the symptom but the symptom has also become the cause. I think the nub is the simple, natural human desire to have it all. And you create the socioeconomic structure that reflects what you deserve. It’s part of our natural inclination to hoard and to have. But I think we’ve ratcheted it up so that it’s acquired its own momentum.
In a way, the tools we have created generate that desire (to have it all). Everything now has to happen at the speed of software or we get impatient. Our expectation is that everything should take the least amount of time – that’s the guiding principle of efficiency. These are the underlying assumptions driving this culture of speed. We’ve worked up to “faster is always also better” without questioning it. Now I think we’re starting to question that.
JD: For our readers who might not be familiar with the slow movement, can you briefly explain what it means to live slowly’?
CH: The slow movement is a kind of cultural revolution. It’s a complete reappraisal of our relationship with time. In the past, speed was a pretty good thing, but in recent years we’ve entered a stage of diminishing returns. “Speed-aholism” is doing more harm than good, in terms of health, relationships, work and certainly the environment. It’s taking a heavy toll on us, personally and collectively.
So with the slow movement we’re moving towards having a conversation about what’s going on, even with young people.
To live slow is to relearn the lost art of shifting gears: learning when to go fast and when to go slow. It needs to be instilled right from the start, though by and large we’re not doing enough of that yet.
JD: How can teens apply the slow movement principles in their own lives?
CH: Number one: Do Less. Hold tight to the idea that "less is more." It’s very hard for teens to do that. They’re excited about the future, they’ve got raging hormones, and - especially - they’ve been marinated in a culture of having it all. So you need to say, “Stop, you know, my extracurriculars are crazy. I need to find the ones that I enjoy, that float my boat and that I do well.”
Even Harvard has issued a letter to all incoming freshman that says basically: choose the things that are really important to you. And give yourself hours of unstructured time - time to sit under an apple tree like Isaac Newton. You know the title of this letter? “Slow Down”.
Prioritize, choose quality before quantity and allow some oxygen in!
It can be difficult but children need that, especially teens. They’ve got big questions to answer: Who am I? Where do I fit in? You can’t reflect on those questions when you’re constantly rushing on to the next activity on your to-do list.
The second thing is: Unplug. If you spend more time interacting with your friends virtually than face-to-face, that’s wrong. You need unstructured time with your friends: hanging out, talking, arguing, working out how you fit in to the big picture. You can’t figure it out when you’ve got five IMs coming in.
Even the big technology companies – places like Hewlett Packard – are saying "slow down." They’ve found that people are more creative, more productive, less stressed when they unplug for a while and recharge themselves.
Number three: Cultivate Slow Rituals. Find some trigger to help you slow down, whether it’s yoga, cooking, poetry or gardening or whatever works for you. These are some things that get steamrolled out in society. So you need something that recalibrates you - that resets your speedometer, so to speak.
JD: In your new book, “Under Pressure,” you describe children who are "wired, pampered and constantly monitored." Do you think these young people, especially the older ones, are aware of how their lives are being micromanaged or does it seem normal and OK?
CH: A bit of both. Children only know what they’re exposed to. If they’re "hothoused" that’s the way the world is. On the other hand, since this approach (to bringing up children) is wrong, they can sense in their bones that it’s wrong. They know something’s awry.
I’ve had conversations with 17-year-olds, in which once you peel back the layers, they’ve said they feel like they’re going through the motions. They’re on a track laid out for them when they were very young and they feel very hemmed in, thinking: Is this it?
It’s hard when you’re in the middle of it, you have less experience and perspective, but I certainly feel a sense of: Something’s not right. They’re just not sure how to get out of it. And through peer pressure they feel they have to continue.
With my first book ("In Praise of Slow"), I got a lot of feedback from kids on my website, even so far as kids writing, “I’m 13 and I’m going crazy. Can you write to my parents?”
So in writing the latest book ("Under Pressure"), one motivation was to write an open letter to grown-ups, to help kids like those who wrote to me. I’m writing in a broad sense, not just to parents, but to all adults - politicians, advertising executives, etc - to say: Childhood is now a crowded place, with all of those adult issues, agendas and hang-ups. And it’s something we’ve never seen to this degree before. Adults have hijacked childhood.
JD: So what’s it going to take to overcome the micromanagement of young lives? What would you say to young people who have helicopter parents? How can they tell their folks, "I want to slow down?"
CH: Start with the simple things: talk about fatigue, exhaustion. A lot of parents know this is happening and can tell when the joy has drained out. I think they’re ready to hear this from their kids. So start small, maybe with a weekend and ask for your own time – a few hours on Sunday.
Another way is to ask your parents how they feel about their time and schedule. Maybe they feel the same as you – chances are they’re exhausted too. It’s a way to sugar the pill, turning the tables, so they don’t feel under siege.
And the last way is just to take a stand. This is for the really bold, who have an open family situation. But if you’re feeling bold, say what you really want!
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