If Humanity is to Grow, it Must Slow Down
I’ve been in Italy now for about a week, and my most keen observation is this: far too many of us humans have come to accept a way of living which is in complete and total opposition to what actually supports a deep and well-lived life.
We move too much, too fast, rushing from one thing or place to the next, afraid to miss out or scared we will be taken advantage of, deeply weary of one another, and in the process we let our fears and trials rob us of treating other humans with warmth and kindness.
Perhaps this is a bit of an extreme statement to write, and certainly, not everyone lives like this (to be fair, I certainly don’t when I am at home), but it is my observation having now traveled to a few different cities in this beautiful, richly historical and heavily visited country.
I don’t know what it is, exactly; I sometimes wonder if it is the aftermath of the pandemic we all went through — too many of us cooped up for too long, trying to make up for “lost” time (though truthfully, time never need be lost if you so choose, and it is always a choice, you know).
No matter the reason, the outcome of moving around and living even just a few short days like this remains the same: we become tired, disconnected, and cold. Our nervous systems go into over-drive in response to constant and abrupt…
