Tuesday 28 January 2014

Slowness

Today, on a day off work, I re-discovered my addiction to being slow ... My absolute favourite book for a very long time was Stan Nadolny's 'The Discovery of Slowness'. It's a long time ago I discovered it, still living in Germany, and I read it in German: 'Die Entdeckung der Langsamkeit'. Slowness in Nadolny's book means the ability of a person to wait. I guess it's rather unlikely that anyone who knows me associates me positively with this very ability. I assume that - quite often - I'm impatience personified. But that's exactly the point. The way life seems to work these days is bound to create impatience, haste, speed and so-called efficiency.

Taking time to discover what lies behind the next bend, or waiting for the light to colour the world, showing it at its best, or discovering the clouds and 'hanging on to them':