[Lifestyle] Slow-tempo Life

Why slow-tempo life becomes the priority number one in 2024?

The new year has brought a resolution or two. They cannot amount to the New Year Resolutions, but just a priority number on lifestyle.
One is to stop looking at my smartphone in bed to save my eyesight;
Another is to stop rushing through everyday life. I've seen a lot of people of my age who have had accidents and injuries. I've seen many people around me, who have fallen at home, on the street, while walking in a hurry, or while running up the subway stairs.
On this occasion, I heard that a French writer Pierre Sansot advocated 'slowness', and I was interested in his words.

 

Pierre Sansot's suggestions

Pierre Sansot was a French anthropologist and sociologist, born on June 9, 1928, in Antibes, a small city in southern France. He passed away on May 6, 2005, in Grenoble.[1]

 

Sansot’s philosophy revolved around the concept of ‘slowness’, which he saw not as a personality trait but as a deliberate choice in life. He proposed that ‘slowness’ is about not rushing time, not being pushed around by the urgency of time, and living a restrained life. He suggested that the wisdom to escape from a busy life lies in the proposition of 'slowness’.[2] According to Sansot, this does not mean a lack of agility or a dull temperament, but rather signifies that one should not hastily discard thoughts or actions.

 

 

Sansot proposed nine attitudes for embracing a slow life:

 

1. Stroll leisurely (유유자적하게 걷기): Walk as your steps lead you, as the scenery calls you.

2. Listen carefully (주의해서 듣기): Fully concentrate on the words of those you trust.

3. Accept and savor (받아들이고 맛보기): Continuously accept and savor until the subject feels meaningless.

 

4. Dream (상상하며 꿈꾸기): Have time for imagination that recreates and refreshes everyday life.

5. Wait (미래를 향해 기다리기): Keep an open mind and patiently wait for the future.

6. Preserve the hometown of the mind (마음의 고향 간직하기): Preserve the hometown of the mind to have peace in the traces of the past.

 

7. Write (글쓰기): Translate the voice of the mind into writing to allow truth to grow within us.

8. Live with little (미니멀 라이프 실천): Live with the virtue of restraint and be satisfied with little.

9. Moderato Cantabille (절제보다는 절도): Have moderation rather than temperance.

 

How to implement in real life

Sansot believed that ‘slowness’ does not have value in itself, but it can allow us to live honorably without being distracted by unnecessary plans.

He insisted "Slow living means living better, not faster." (천천히 정신은 빨리빨리가 아닌 더 나은 삶)

 

At this juncture, it seems necessary to slow down the clock of life, eat slower than ever, experience one of the Slow Cities in Korea,[3] and share other people's experiences.

 

Note

1] Pierre Sansot  spent his youth in Saint-Pierre-de-Caubel, Villeneuve-sur-Lot, and Marmande. After a period of living as a gypsy during his teenage years, he studied philosophy at the prestigious Paris Higher Normal School and the Sorbonne University. He later taught philosophy and anthropology at Pierre Mendès-France University in Grenoble and Paul Valéry University in Montpellier.

Sansot was known for his writings that beautifully depicted the landscapes of life lived at a slower pace.7 His works sparked global interest in the concept of 'slowness’. He wrote 15 books, including “Poetics of the City” (1973), “Sensual France”, “Poor People”, “Lyrics of the City”, “People Who Know How to Live with Little”, “Park”, “Sensitive France”, and "The Meaning of Doing Slowly". His book “The Meaning of Doing Slowly”, published in 1998, created a wave of ‘slowness’ around the world. His last work, “Very Small, But Precious”, was published posthumously by his disciples, led by Henri Torgue.

 

2] 원저 Du bon usage de la lenteur 의 출간 23주년을 맞아 2023년 8월 드림셀러에서 "느리게 산다는 것"이라는 타이틀로 발행되었다.

 

3] 11 Slow Cities in South Korea are indicated as follows: (1999년 이탈리아에서 국제슬로시티 (cittaslow) 운동이 시작된 이래 2017년 현재 전세계 30개국에서 225 도시가 슬로시티로 선정되었다.)

* 출처: 한국관광공사