Slow down: thoughts on stress & the glorification of busy

Just sharing excerpts and related thoughts on slowing down...

“Big cars, shiny jewelry, expensive clothes, McMansions – [are] all designed to establish our status and all tied to our drive for reproductive success.  Stress is just the latest in this long list.  Being stressed shows the world just how in demand we are, how important we must be, how busy we are gathering resources for our tribe.  Trouble is, stress is killing us.” Stress is preventing “from maximizing our happiness and optimizing our life satisfaction,” writes Andrew Shatte from meQuilibrium.

"These humans really don't get it: slow is sexy"

But, where is all this stress coming from? Tim Kreider explains it in terms of the glorification of busy. Busy is “the default response when you ask anyone how they’re doing,” “a boast disguised as a complaint.” But it is a self-imposed busyness: “work and obligations [people have] taken on voluntarily, classes and activities they’ve 'encouraged' their kids to participate in. They’re busy because of their own ambition or drive or anxiety, because they’re addicted to busyness and dread what they might have to face in its absence.” Worth reading the whole article on the Opinion Pages of the New York Time.

Someone who knows how to take it easy

Perhaps it's time for bit of reflection and trying to slow down? I know I need to remind myself all the time to do just that. Time for some meditation.