Slō

Drive your car on an empty road. Okay, chances are, if you live in a small rural community, your daily commute may already afford this opportunity. Next time you take that route or for the first time, intentionally drive down an empty road, look around…slowly. What do you see…smell…and hear? Take notice. Pull over and ponder.

Our eyes and brains are so regulated for constant stimulation that we’ve neglected to end with a period at the end of our sentence of activity. If the only period we allow ourselves is the completion of a deadline or task, then our next stroke would naturally be to capitalize the next letter as a bold launch for the next activity.

We want slow. We’ve even marked days for some:

Slow Art Day, April 15

Slow World Day, June 19 (actual name: World Sauntering Day)

Slow Food Day, December 10

Myriads of books and articles are written on how to slow down everything, from parenting, to reading, to church. Daniel Kahneman, the author of Thinking Fast and Slow, explains that our decision-making is defined by two systems. System 1 operates quickly, with little to no effort. System 2 requires more conscious effort and reasoning. System 1 dominates while System 2 operates in the background. When the two systems agree, impressions likely become beliefs.

In our efforts to slow down in 2023, consider pausing at those moments when our intuition and quick responses intersect with our intentional background hum of reasoning to empower beliefs that form our identity as human beings who pursue lives of meaning.

Live life slowly to deepen beliefs that drive our intuition when an instant response is necessary.