Jan 12 2009
Trying to Think is Sometimes HARD– Slow down. Do Less.
I am beginning to think that the older and wiser of my colleagues may be actually right! (smile)
You know the old song….
“Slow down, you move to fast. You gotta make the mornin’ last….” Feelin’ Groovy would be far from what I am feeling these days. Heck. I am at this moment feeling like the jet lag truck ran over my head and having just completed a bit of a journey downtown for a meeting via the subway (which was unusually empty today).
Anyway, I have found that the world is moving a bit too fast for me. One of my key directives this year was to narrow my scope and manage my priorities. Not that I could not manage them before, but I had identified for myself that too much, too fast for too many people does not succeed for anyone. Collectively, I believe a little more of a plodding pace will in fact create a more reflective and effective workspace for all of us. Thus when I stumbled upon this bulletin board a couple of weeks ago in the hallway, I had to snap a picture of it. The bulletin board was the responsibility of Mr. Jonathan Chambers who directed me to the Slow Blog Manifesto.
Huh??? Is this like short blogging? No.. Todd Sieling writes that:
Slow Blogging is a rejection of immediacy. It is an affirmation that
not all things worth reading are written quickly, and that many
thoughts are best served after being fully baked and worded in an even
temperament.
Why do I address this? Frankly, I am now getting pretty tired of people out there creating content and NOT really thinking it through. This paragraph that Todd writes really gets to it is….
Slow Blogging is speaking like it matters, like the pixels that give your words form are precious and rare. It is a willingness to let current events pass without comment. It is deliberate in its pace, breaking its unhurried stride for nothing short of true emergency. And perhaps not even then, for slow is not the speed of most emergencies, and places where beloved, reassuring speed rules the day will serve us best at those times.
So… slow down. Don’t move so fast. Reflect and write. Make your own slog blog manifesto.
Image from CC: http://static.flickr.com/166/346911307_e346eb9e17.jpg
Powered by ScribeFire.
Learning happens fast, it happens slow. It is a flash of insight, it is dull painful progress. Blogging is merely a reflection of how it happens. sometimes, that is fast, or slow.
Blogging has never been about writing long well-formed articles, giving speeches in writing…there are plenty of well-established approaches for that. Rather, blogging is an attempt to capture learning as it happens, to throw up a quick mirror and see what can be seen.
Blogging is as breathless as a climber, pausing to study the sunset, as quick as a glance at the view when a piton gives way.
8->
Miguel
Miguel,
Nicely written… I appreciate the reflection!
Andy
My wife and I have a saying that we need to “Hurry up and slow down.” You make a great point in saying for us to do the same as bloggers. We have a thought and act upon it before it is complete at times, thus trading quality in for a higher quantity. In todays gotta have it now society, it is OK to slow down and savor what we are doing. By doing so we enjoy it more and others will too.
Well said Ed! Tonight is a good example of that for our family! My wife is off to an Apple Distinguished Educators meeting here in Shanghai immediately after school and I am in charge of rushing the kids to be so I can fit in a scheduled massage! HA! Rushing to relax! Something wrong with that if you ask me!
Thanks for reading and sharing some thoughts on the Manifesto, Andrew.
I appreciate what Miguel eloquently offers, that blogging is for the immediate moment. I suppose if I had any core point to the manifesto, it would be that because something can be fast doesn’t mean it must be in all uses. For me, the defining characteristic of blogs is their accessibility to non-technical, non-professional writers. That they are made for anyone with something to say (and a computer) they are available, and that speed is not needed to qualify expression online. Nonetheless I do love how Miquel makes his point.
Good luck with your busy night, Andrew. It might be ironic to be rushing to a relaxing appointment, but there are worse things to be fast about.
Funny, I just finished reading Eric Carle’s “Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” said the Sloth. It’s a nice reminder that we don’t have to be so rushed to thrive. I love the excitement that comes from working to make change but I envy the slot at times.
Balance! I would agree that a slower pace CAN promote more effective reflection. Some reflection can also happen in an instant of realization – as Miguel noted. Rapid change, though, can be exhilarating and exhausting (and dangerous). Balance!