A Slower Pace Does Not Slow Everything

A slow pace is a gift only if there is something worth doing with the time.

By Neil Solomon · 2 min read

Picture a couple named Frank and Ruth. They are tired. Their calendar has been full for decades, and they picture a place where the morning takes its time and nobody checks a watch.

I understand the wish. I also think a slow place can surprise people, because it changes the outside of life and leaves the inside as it was.

Four voices

China. One person wrote, with a dry humour, about living in a village in Jiangsu. They loved some things and found others hard, sometimes in the same afternoon. I read it as an honest mix. The slower pace gave them time to notice, and noticing is not always gentle.

India. One woman described a slower pace that was harder at home. The streets and the shops moved slowly, yet the household needed more of her. Another writer, living in Goa, said plainly that the place would not fix your problems. I find that useful. A beach does not touch an old worry.

Nepal. Here the mood turns. A woman described her happiest years there, with a party for her sixtieth birthday. As I read it, the pace gave her room for friends, and the friends made the day.

At the kitchen table

"The shop closes for lunch," Frank said. "For two hours."

"Good," Ruth said. "Then we eat."

"What if I get restless?"

"Then we notice it," she said. "And we find out why."

What I take from it

A slow pace is a gift only if there is something worth doing with the time. For one person it was a village to explore, for another a household to run, for another a party with friends. The same hours felt different.

If a worry is going to follow you, it follows by plane. If friendship is going to be part of your life, you could begin looking for it early. I notice that the happiest story had other people in it.