What I'd like to start off with is an observation, which is that if I've learned anything over the last year, it's that the supreme irony of publishing a book about slowness is that you have to go around promoting it really fast. I seem to spend most of my time these days zipping from city to city, studio to studio, interview to interview, serving up the book in really tiny bite-size chunks. Because everyone these days wants to know how to slow down, but they want to know how to slow down really quickly. So ... so I did a spot on CNN the other day where I actually spent more time in makeup than I did talking on air. And I think that -- that's not really surprising though, is it? Because that's kind of the world that we live in now, a world stuck in fast-forward.
Aș vrea să încep cu o observație, și anume, că dacă am învățat ceva în ultimul an, e că ironia supremă a publicării unei cărți despre lentoare e că trebuie s-o promovezi foarte rapid. Se pare că îmi petrec mai tot timpul zilele astea, grăbindu-mă din oraș în oraș, din studio în studio, din interviu în interviu, servind cartea în bucatele foarte mici. Pentru că toată lumea în zilele noastre vrea să știe cum să încetinească, dar vor să afle cum să încetinească foarte rapid, (Râsete) deci am avut o apariție la CNN zilele trecute unde am petrecut mai mult la machiaj decât vorbind pe post. Și cred că, deși asta nu e chiar atât de surprinzător, nu? Pentru ca asta e lumea în care trăim,
A world obsessed with speed, with doing everything faster, with cramming more and more into less and less time. Every moment of the day feels like a race against the clock. To borrow a phrase from Carrie Fisher, which is in my bio there; I'll just toss it out again -- "These days even instant gratification takes too long." (Laughter) And if you think about how we to try to make things better, what do we do? No, we speed them up, don't we? So we used to dial; now we speed dial. We used to read; now we speed read. We used to walk; now we speed walk. And of course, we used to date and now we speed date. And even things that are by their very nature slow -- we try and speed them up too. So I was in New York recently, and I walked past a gym that had an advertisement in the window for a new course, a new evening course. And it was for, you guessed it, speed yoga. So this -- the perfect solution for time-starved professionals who want to, you know, salute the sun, but only want to give over about 20 minutes to it. I mean, these are sort of the extreme examples, and they're amusing and good to laugh at.
o lume blocată pe modul rapid. O lume obsedată de viteza, de a face totul mai repede, de a înghesui din ce în ce mai multe într-un timp din ce în ce mai scurt. Fiecare moment al zilei pare o cursa împotriva timpului. Vorba lui Carrie Fisher care e și în biografia mea, dar o voi repeta: „În ziua de azi chiar și recompensarea imediată durează prea mult." (Râsete) Și ce facem când vrem să îmbunătățim lucrurile? Le acceleram. Obișnuiam să formăm un număr; acum apelăm rapid. Citeam, acum citim rapid. Mergeam, acum mergem în viteză. Și desigur, obișnuiam să avem întâlniri, acum avem întâlniri-fulger. Și chiar și lucrurile care sunt încete prin natura lor încercăm să le acceleram. Am fost în New York recent și am trecut pe lângă o sală de sport care avea o reclamă în geam pentru un curs nou de seară. Și era pentru, ați ghicit, yoga rapidă. A apărut o soluție perfectă pentru profesioniștii fără timp care vor să salute soarele, dar vor să-i acorde numai 20 de minute. Acestea sunt exemple extreme și sunt amuzante și radem de ele.
But there's a very serious point, and I think that in the headlong dash of daily life, we often lose sight of the damage that this roadrunner form of living does to us. We're so marinated in the culture of speed that we almost fail to notice the toll it takes on every aspect of our lives -- on our health, our diet, our work, our relationships, the environment and our community. And sometimes it takes a wake-up call, doesn't it, to alert us to the fact that we're hurrying through our lives, instead of actually living them; that we're living the fast life, instead of the good life. And I think for many people, that wake-up call takes the form of an illness. You know, a burnout, or eventually the body says, "I can't take it anymore," and throws in the towel. Or maybe a relationship goes up in smoke because we haven't had the time, or the patience, or the tranquility, to be with the other person, to listen to them.
Dar e un aspect foarte serios și cred că în cursa vieții zilnice pierdem adesea din vedere daunele pe care ni le aduce această viață grăbită. Suntem atât de îmbibați de cultura vitezei încât nici nu mai observăm prețul pe care îl plătim în fiecare latură a vieții noastre. Sănătatea, dieta, slujba, relațiile, mediul și comunitatea. Și uneori e nevoie de un semnal de alarmă care să ne anunțe că ne grăbim prin viețile noastre, în loc să le trăim cu adevărat, trăim viața rapidă, în locul vieții bune. Și cred că pentru mulți oameni, semnalul de alarmă ia forma unei boli. O epuizare, până la urmă corpul ne spune „Nu mai pot”, și aruncă prosopul. Sau poate o relație se duce de râpă pentru ca n-am avut timpul, sau răbdarea, sau liniștea, de a fi cu cealaltă persoana, de a o asculta.
And my wake-up call came when I started reading bedtime stories to my son, and I found that at the end of day, I would go into his room and I just couldn't slow down -- you know, I'd be speed reading "The Cat In The Hat." I'd be -- you know, I'd be skipping lines here, paragraphs there, sometimes a whole page, and of course, my little boy knew the book inside out, so we would quarrel. And what should have been the most relaxing, the most intimate, the most tender moment of the day, when a dad sits down to read to his son, became instead this kind of gladiatorial battle of wills, a clash between my speed and his slowness. And this went on for some time, until I caught myself scanning a newspaper article with timesaving tips for fast people. And one of them made reference to a series of books called "The One-Minute Bedtime Story." And I wince saying those words now, but my first reaction at the time was very different. My first reflex was to say, "Hallelujah -- what a great idea! This is exactly what I'm looking for to speed up bedtime even more." But thankfully, a light bulb went on over my head, and my next reaction was very different, and I took a step back, and I thought, "Whoa -- you know, has it really come to this? Am I really in such a hurry that I'm prepared to fob off my son with a sound byte at the end of the day?" And I put away the newspaper -- and I was getting on a plane -- and I sat there, and I did something I hadn't done for a long time -- which is I did nothing. I just thought, and I thought long and hard. And by the time I got off that plane, I'd decided I wanted to do something about it. I wanted to investigate this whole roadrunner culture, and what it was doing to me and to everyone else.
Semnalul meu de alarma a venit când am început să îi citesc povești fiului meu și am văzut că la sfârșitul zilei mă duceam în camera lui și nu puteam să încetinesc, citeam repede „Pisica din pălarie”. Săream rânduri aici, paragrafe dincolo, uneori o pagina întreagă și desigur, băiețelul meu știa cartea pe de rost, așa că ne certam. Și ceea ce ar fi trebuit să fie cel mai relaxant, cel mai intim, cel mai tandru moment al zilei, în care un tata stă și îi citește fiului său, devenise de fapt o bătalie a voințelor; o ciocnire între viteza lui și... de fapt, între viteza mea și lentoarea lui. Și asta a durat ceva timp, până m-am surprins citind un articol din ziar cu sfaturi pentru oameni grăbiți. Și unul dintre sfaturi menționa o serie de cărți intitulată „Povești de un minut.” Si eu, ma cutremur cand spun acum acele cuvinte, dar prima reactie a fost foarte diferita atunci. Primul meu reflex a fost sa spun "Aleluia, ce idee grozava! Este exact ce imi trebuie ca sa grabesc si mai mult adormirea copilului." Dar din fericire mi s-a aprins un beculet si urmatoarea mea reactie a fost foarte diferita si am facut un pas inapoi si m-am gandit "Hopa, chiar la asta s-a ajuns? Sunt chiar atat de grabit incat sunt gata sa-mi expediez fiul doar cu un sunet la sfarsitul zilei?" Si apoi am aruncat ziarul, si ma pregateam sa urc in avion, si am stat acolo si am facut ceva ce nu mai facusem de multa vreme, mai exact n-am facut nimic. Doar m-am gandit, m-am gandit mult si bine. Si pana am coborat din avion, ma hotarasem sa fac ceva in privinta asta. Vroiam sa investighez toata cultura asta a cucilor alergatori si efectele ei asupra mea si asupra celorlalti.
And I had two questions in my head. The first was, how did we get so fast? And the second is, is it possible, or even desirable, to slow down? Now, if you think about how our world got so accelerated, the usual suspects rear their heads. You think of, you know, urbanization, consumerism, the workplace, technology. But I think if you cut through those forces, you get to what might be the deeper driver, the nub of the question, which is how we think about time itself. In other cultures, time is cyclical. It's seen as moving in great, unhurried circles. It's always renewing and refreshing itself. Whereas in the West, time is linear. It's a finite resource; it's always draining away. You either use it, or lose it. "Time is money," as Benjamin Franklin said. And I think what that does to us psychologically is it creates an equation. Time is scarce, so what do we do? Well -- well, we speed up, don't we? We try and do more and more with less and less time. We turn every moment of every day into a race to the finish line -- a finish line, incidentally, that we never reach, but a finish line nonetheless. And I guess that the question is, is it possible to break free from that mindset? And thankfully, the answer is yes, because what I discovered, when I began looking around, that there is a global backlash against this culture that tells us that faster is always better, and that busier is best.
Si aveam doua intrebari in minte. Prima era "Cum de am devenit asa rapizi?" Iar a doua era "Este posibil, sau macar de dorit, sa incetinim?" Acum, daca ne gandim la cum a ajuns lumea noastra asa de accelerata, ies la iveala suspectii de serviciu. Ne gandim, stiti, la urbanizare, consumerism, locul de munca, tehnologie. Dar cred ca daca trecem de aceste forte, ajungem la ceva ce ar putea fi motivul mai profund, la miezul problemei, care este modul in care privim timpul in sine. In alte culturi, timpul e ciclic. Se crede ca el curge in cercuri mari, incete. Intotdeauna se innoieste si se improspateaza. In vreme ce in Vest, timpul este liniar. Este o resursa finita, mereu se scurge. Ori il folosesti, ori il pierzi. Timpul inseamna bani, cum a spus Benjamin Franklin. Si cred ca asta are efecte psihologice asupra noastra, ne... ne creeaza o ecuatie. Timp e putin, deci ce facem? Pai...pai acceleram, nu? Incercam sa facem din ce in ce mai multe in din ce in ce mai putin timp. Transformam fiecare moment al zilei intr-o cursa spre linia de sosire. O linie la care, de fapt, nu ajungem niciodata, dar care tot o linie de sosire este. Si cred ca intrebarea este daca se poate sa scapam de acest mod de gandire. Si din fericire, raspunsul este da, pentru ca eu am descoperit, cand am inceput sa caut, ca exista un curent global impotriva acestei culturi care ne spune ca mai repede e mereu mai bine si ca mai ocupat e cel mai bine.
Right across the world, people are doing the unthinkable: they're slowing down, and finding that, although conventional wisdom tells you that if you slow down, you're road kill, the opposite turns out to be true: that by slowing down at the right moments, people find that they do everything better. They eat better; they make love better; they exercise better; they work better; they live better. And, in this kind of cauldron of moments and places and acts of deceleration, lie what a lot of people now refer to as the "International Slow Movement."
In toata lumea, oamenii fac ceva de neimaginat: incetinesc si afla ca desi gandirea conventionala le spune ca daca reduci viteza, esti calcat in picioare, contrariul se dovedeste a fi adevarat. Ca incetinind in momentele potrivite, oamenii afla ca fac totul mai bine. Mananca mai bine, fac dragoste mai bine, fac sport mai bine, muncesc mai bine, traiesc mai bine. Iar in acest tip de cazan in care se amesteca momente, locuri si incetiniri, se gaseste ceea ce multi oameni numesc acum Miscarea Internationala a Lentorii.
Now if you'll permit me a small act of hypocrisy, I'll just give you a very quick overview of what's going on inside the Slow Movement. If you think of food, many of you will have heard of the Slow Food movement. Started in Italy, but has spread across the world, and now has 100,000 members in 50 countries. And it's driven by a very simple and sensible message, which is that we get more pleasure and more health from our food when we cultivate, cook and consume it at a reasonable pace. I think also the explosion of the organic farming movement, and the renaissance of farmers' markets, are other illustrations of the fact that people are desperate to get away from eating and cooking and cultivating their food on an industrial timetable. They want to get back to slower rhythms. And out of the Slow Food movement has grown something called the Slow Cities movement, which has started in Italy, but has spread right across Europe and beyond. And in this, towns begin to rethink how they organize the urban landscape, so that people are encouraged to slow down and smell the roses and connect with one another. So they might curb traffic, or put in a park bench, or some green space.
Acum daca imi permiteti un mic act de ipocrizie, am sa va ofer un foarte rapid rezumat a ceea ce se intampla in cadrul Miscarii. Daca va ganditi la mancare, multi veti fi auzit de miscarea "Mancare Lenta." A inceput in Italia dar s-a raspandit in intreaga lume si acum are 100 000 de membri in 50 de tari. Si se conduce dupa un mesaj foarte simplu si de bun simt, si anume acela ca obtinem mai multa placere si mai multa sanatate din mancarea noastra cand o cultivam, o preparam si o consumam intr-un ritm rezonabil. Mai cred ca explozia miscarii fermelor organice si renasterea pietelor taranesti este o alta...sunt alte ilustrari ale faptului ca oamenii incearca disperati sa scape de consumarea si prepararea si cultivarea mancarii lor dupa un program industrial. Vor sa se intoarca la ritmuri mai lente. Iar din miscarea Mancarii Lente s-a dezvoltat ceva numit miscarea "Oraselor Lente", care a inceput in Italia, dar s-a raspandit in toata Europa si mai departe. Datorita ei, orasele incep sa isi regandeasca organizarea peisajului urban in asa fel incat oamenii sa fie incurajati sa incetineasca si sa miroasa trandafirii si sa aiba relatii unii cu altii. Se reduce traficul, se pun banci in parcuri, se planteaza flori.
And in some ways, these changes add up to more than the sum of their parts, because I think when a Slow City becomes officially a Slow City, it's kind of like a philosophical declaration. It's saying to the rest of world, and to the people in that town, that we believe that in the 21st century, slowness has a role to play. In medicine, I think a lot of people are deeply disillusioned with the kind of quick-fix mentality you find in conventional medicine. And millions of them around the world are turning to complementary and alternative forms of medicine, which tend to tap into sort of slower, gentler, more holistic forms of healing. Now, obviously the jury is out on many of these complementary therapies, and I personally doubt that the coffee enema will ever, you know, gain mainstream approval. But other treatments such as acupuncture and massage, and even just relaxation, clearly have some kind of benefit. And blue-chip medical colleges everywhere are starting to study these things to find out how they work, and what we might learn from them.
Si intr-un fel, aceste schimbari reprezinta mai mult decat suma partilor lor, pentru ca eu cred ca atunci cand un Oras Lent devine in mod oficial un Oras Lent, este ca un fel de declaratie filozofica. Spune lumii si propriilor locuitori ca noi credem ca lentoarea are un rol de jucat in secolul 21. In medicina, cred ca multi oameni sunt puternic dezamagiti de tipul de mentalitate solutie-rapida pe care-l gasesti in medicina conventionala. Si milioane de oameni din intreaga lume se indreapta catre forme complementare si alternative de medicina, care tind sa foloseasca metode mai lente, mai blande, mai holistice de vindecare. Acum, bineinteles ca terapiile complementare sunt controversate si eu personal ma indoiesc ca spalatura cu cafea va avea vreodata suportul comunitatii stiintifice. Insa alte tratamente cum sunt acupunctura si masajul, sau chiar doar relaxarea, au in mod evident un fel de beneficiu. Pretutindeni, facultati de medicina renumite au inceput sa studieze aceste practici ca sa afle cum functioneaza si ce putem invata de la ele.
Sex. There's an awful lot of fast sex around, isn't there? I was coming to -- well -- no pun intended there. I was making my way, let's say, slowly to Oxford, and I went through a news agent, and I saw a magazine, a men's magazine, and it said on the front, "How to bring your partner to orgasm in 30 seconds." So, you know, even sex is on a stopwatch these days. Now, you know, I like a quickie as much as the next person, but I think that there's an awful lot to be gained from slow sex -- from slowing down in the bedroom. You know, you tap into that -- those deeper, sort of, psychological, emotional, spiritual currents, and you get a better orgasm with the buildup. You can get more bang for your buck, let's say. I mean, the Pointer Sisters said it most eloquently, didn't they, when they sang the praises of "a lover with a slow hand." Now, we all laughed at Sting a few years ago when he went Tantric, but you fast-forward a few years, and now you find couples of all ages flocking to workshops, or maybe just on their own in their own bedrooms, finding ways to put on the brakes and have better sex. And of course, in Italy where -- I mean, Italians always seem to know where to find their pleasure -- they've launched an official Slow Sex movement.
Sexul. Se practica mult sex rapid, nu? Terminam... in fine, nu intentionam sa fac un joc de cuvinte. Ma indreptam, sa zicem, incet catre Oxford si am intrat intr-un magazin de ziare si am vazut o revista, o revista pentru barbati, care avea pe coperta titlul "Cum sa-ti aduci partenera la orgasm in 30 de secunde." Deci, intelegeti, chiar si sexul se face cu cronometrul in zilele noastre. Acum, desigur ca si mie imi place una mica la fel ca oricui, dar cred ca am castiga foarte mult din sexul lent, din a incetini ritmul in dormitor. Stiti, accesezi acei, sa zicem, curenti psihologici, emotionali, spirituali mai profunzi, si obtii un orgasm mai puternic in urma acumularii. Mai multa placere la acelasi pret, sa zicem. Pointer Sisters au fost cele mai elocvente, nu-i asa, cand au laudat amantul cu maini lente. Si toti am ras de Sting acum cativa ani cand a inceput sexul tantric, dar derulezi cativa ani, si acum gasesti cupluri de toate varstele ingramadite la seminarii, sau poate doar la ei in dormitor, incercand sa gaseasca moduri de a reduce viteza si de a face sex mai bine. Si desigur in Italia, unde oamenii par intotdeauna sa stie unde sa-si gaseasca placerea, au lansat o miscare oficiala de Sex Lent.
The workplace. Right across much of the world -- North America being a notable exception -- working hours have been coming down. And Europe is an example of that, and people finding that their quality of life improves as they're working less, and also that their hourly productivity goes up. Now, clearly there are problems with the 35-hour workweek in France -- too much, too soon, too rigid. But other countries in Europe, notably the Nordic countries, are showing that it's possible to have a kick-ass economy without being a workaholic. And Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland now rank among the top six most competitive nations on Earth, and they work the kind of hours that would make the average American weep with envy. And if you go beyond sort of the country level, down at the micro-company level, more and more companies now are realizing that they need to allow their staff either to work fewer hours or just to unplug -- to take a lunch break, or to go sit in a quiet room, to switch off their Blackberrys and laptops -- you at the back -- mobile phones, during the work day or on the weekend, so that they have time to recharge and for the brain to slide into that kind of creative mode of thought.
Locul de munca... in cea mai mare parte a lumii, America de Nord este o exceptie notabila, orele de munca s-au redus. Europa este un exemplu al faptului ca oamenii cresc nivelul calitatii propriei vieti pe masura ce muncesc mai putin si ca productivitatea lor pe ora creste. Desigur ca exista probleme cu saptamana de munca de 35 de ore din Franta, prea mult, prea devreme, prea rigida. Dar alte tari din Europa, in special cele nordice, ne arata ca este posibil sa ai o economie grozava fara sa fii ahtiat de munca. Norvegia, Suedia, Danemarca si Finlanda sunt acum printre cele mai competitive 6 economii ale lumii, si au un numar de ore de munca care ar face americanul de rand sa planga de invidie. Iar daca treci de nivelul de tara si ajungi la cel de micro-companie, din ce in ce mai multe companii inteleg acum ca trebuie sa permita angajatilor fie sa lucreze mai putine ore, fie sa se deconecteze, sa ia o pauza de pranz, sa stea intr-o camera linistita, sa isi inchida Blackberry-urile si laptop-urile, voi cei din spate, telefoanele mobile, in timpul zilei sau in weekend, ca sa aiba timp sa se reincarce si sa lase creierul sa ajunga la acea stare creativa a gandirii.
It's not just, though, these days, adults who overwork, though, is it? It's children, too. I'm 37, and my childhood ended in the mid-'80s, and I look at kids now, and I'm just amazed by the way they race around with more homework, more tutoring, more extracurriculars than we would ever have conceived of a generation ago. And some of the most heartrending emails that I get on my website are actually from adolescents hovering on the edge of burnout, pleading with me to write to their parents, to help them slow down, to help them get off this full-throttle treadmill. But thankfully, there is a backlash there in parenting as well, and you're finding that, you know, towns in the United States are now banding together and banning extracurriculars on a particular day of the month, so that people can, you know, decompress and have some family time, and slow down.
Totusi, in zilele noastre, nu doar adultii muncesc prea mult, nu? Si copiii fac la fel. Am 37 de ani si copilaria mea s-a incheiat la mijlocul anilor '80, asa ca ma uit la copiii de azi si ma uimeste felul in care ei se agita cu mai multe teme, mai multe meditatii, mai multe activitati extrascolare, decat ne-am fi putut imagina cu o generatie in urma. Iar unele dintre cele mai emotionante email-uri pe care le primesc pe site vin de fapt de la adolescenti aflati in pragul epuizarii, care ma roaga sa le scriu parintilor ca sa ii ajut sa incetineasca, sa ii ajut sa coboare de pe aceasta banda rulanta la viteza maxima. Dar din fericire, exista o urmare si pentru parinti, si aflam ca orase din Statele Unite se aliaza si interzic activitatile extrascolare intr-o anumita zi a lunii, pentru ca oamenii sa poata sa se destinda si sa petreaca timp cu familia, si sa incetineasca.
Homework is another thing. There are homework bans springing up all over the developed world in schools which had been piling on the homework for years, and now they're discovering that less can be more. So there was a case up in Scotland recently where a fee-paying, high-achieving private school banned homework for everyone under the age of 13, and the high-achieving parents freaked out and said, "What are you -- you know, our kids will fall" -- the headmaster said, "No, no, your children need to slow down at the end of the day." And just this last month, the exam results came in, and in math, science, marks went up 20 percent on average last year. And I think what's very revealing is that the elite universities, who are often cited as the reason that people drive their kids and hothouse them so much, are starting to notice the caliber of students coming to them is falling. These kids have wonderful marks; they have CVs jammed with extracurriculars, to the point that would make your eyes water. But they lack spark; they lack the ability to think creatively and think outside -- they don't know how to dream. And so what these Ivy League schools, and Oxford and Cambridge and so on, are starting to send a message to parents and students that they need to put on the brakes a little bit. And in Harvard, for instance, they send out a letter to undergraduates -- freshmen -- telling them that they'll get more out of life, and more out of Harvard, if they put on the brakes, if they do less, but give time to things, the time that things need, to enjoy them, to savor them. And even if they sometimes do nothing at all. And that letter is called -- very revealing, I think -- "Slow Down!" -- with an exclamation mark on the end.
Temele sunt altceva. Exista interdictii ale temelor care apar in toata lumea dezvoltata, in scoli care puneau mare accent pe ele ani intregi si care vad acum ca mai putin poate insemna mai mult. A fost un caz in Scotia recent unde o scoala privata cu taxa si rezultate bune a interzis temele pentru toti elevii sub 13 ani, iar parintii de succes s-au speriat si au zis "Ce e cu voi, stiti, copiii nostri vor ramane in urma", iar directorul a spus "Nu, nu, copiii vostri trebuie sa o ia incet la sfarsitul zilei." Si luna trecuta, cand au aflat rezultatele examenelor, au vazut ca notele de la matematica si stiinte au crescut cu 20% fata de media de anul trecut. Ceea ce cred eu ca e foarte important este ca universitatile de elita, pe care se da vina pentru ambitionarea si stresarea copiilor, au inceput sa constate un nivel din ce in ce mai scazut al studentilor care se inscriu. Acesti copii au note grozave, au CV-uri atat de pline de activitati extrascolare, incat iti vine sa plangi. Dar le lipseste scanteia, le lipseste abilitatea de a gandi creativ si deosebit, nu mai stiu sa viseze. Astfel ca aceste scoli din Ivy League, plus Oxford si Cambridge si altele, incep sa transmita un mesaj parintilor si elevilor, si anume ca trebuie sa reduca putin viteza. Harvard, spre exemplu, a trimis o scrisoare studentilor de anul I, in care li se spunea ca o sa primeasca mai mult de la viata si de la Harvard daca incetinesc. Daca fac mai putine lucruri, dar dau lucrurilor timp, timpul de care au ele nevoie, ca sa se bucure de ele, sa le savureze. Chiar daca asta inseamna sa nu faca nimic uneori. Iar acea scrisoare se numeste, foarte potrivit zic eu, "Ia-o mai incet!", cu semnul exclamarii la sfarsit.
So wherever you look, the message, it seems to me, is the same: that less is very often more, that slower is very often better. But that said, of course, it's not that easy to slow down, is it? I mean, you heard that I got a speeding ticket while I was researching my book on the benefits of slowness, and that's true, but that's not all of it. I was actually en route to a dinner held by Slow Food at the time. And if that's not shaming enough, I got that ticket in Italy. And if any of you have ever driven on an Italian highway, you'll have a pretty good idea of how fast I was going.
Oriunde ne uitam, mesajul este acelasi, in opinia mea. Mai putin reprezinta adesea mai mult, mai incet este de multe ori mai bine. Dar acestea fiind zise, nu ne este asa usor sa incetinim, nu? Vreau sa zic, ati auzit ca am luat o amenda pentru viteza in timp ce faceam cercetare pentru cartea mea cu beneficiile incetinirii, si e adevarat, dar nu e tot. Ma indreptam de fapt spre o cina tinuta de cei de la Mancare Lenta. Si daca toate astea n-ar fi destul de stanjenitoare, am primit amenda in Italia. Daca vreunul dintre voi a condus pe o autostrada in Italia, aveti o idee in legatura cu ce viteza aveam.
(Laughter)
(Rasete)
But why is it so hard to slow down? I think there are various reasons. One is that speed is fun, you know, speed is sexy. It's all that adrenaline rush. It's hard to give it up. I think there's a kind of metaphysical dimension -- that speed becomes a way of walling ourselves off from the bigger, deeper questions. We fill our head with distraction, with busyness, so that we don't have to ask, am I well? Am I happy? Are my children growing up right? Are politicians making good decisions on my behalf? Another reason -- although I think, perhaps, the most powerful reason -- why we find it hard to slow down is the cultural taboo that we've erected against slowing down. "Slow" is a dirty word in our culture. It's a byword for "lazy," "slacker," for being somebody who gives up. You know, "he's a bit slow." It's actually synonymous with being stupid.
Dar de ce ne e asa de greu sa incetinim? Cred ca sunt diverse motive. Unul este ca viteza e distractiva, stiti, viteza e sexy. E vorba de aportul de adrenalina. E greu sa renuntam la el. Cred ca exista si o dimensiune metafizica, viteza devine modul nostru de a ne izola fata de intrebarile mai mari, mai adanci. Ne umplem mintile cu ceea ce ne distrage atentia, ne tine ocupati, ca nu fim nevoiti sa ne intrebam sunt bine? Sunt fericit? Imi cresc copiii asa cum trebuie? Politicienii iau decizii bune in numele meu? Un alt motiv, care cred eu ca e cel mai puternic, pentru care ne vine greu sa o luam mai incet, este tabuul cultural pe care l-am ridicat in jurul incetinirii. "Incet" este un cuvant murdar in cultura noastra. Este sinonim cu "lenes", "indolent", cu un om care renunta usor. Cum se zice, "E putin mai incet." Este de fapt sinonim cu a fi prost.
I guess what the Slow Movement -- the purpose of the Slow Movement, or its main goal, really, is to tackle that taboo, and to say that yes, sometimes slow is not the answer, that there is such a thing as "bad slow." You know, I got stuck on the M25, which is a ring road around London, recently, and spent three-and-a-half hours there. And I can tell you, that's really bad slow. But the new idea, the sort of revolutionary idea, of the Slow Movement, is that there is such a thing as "good slow," too. And good slow is, you know, taking the time to eat a meal with your family, with the TV switched off. Or taking the time to look at a problem from all angles in the office to make the best decision at work. Or even simply just taking the time to slow down and savor your life.
Cred ca Miscarea Lentorii, sau de fapt scopul ei, obiectivul ei principal, este sa sfarame acest tabu, si sa ne spuna ca de fapt da, uneori incetineala nu este -- raspunsul, ca exista "incetineala rea". Stiti ca -- am ramas blocat recent pe M25, care este un drum inel in jurul Londrei, de curand, si am stat trei ore si jumatate acolo. Si pot sa va spun, asta e o incetineala foarte rea. Dar ideea noua, ideea revolutionara a Miscarii Lentorii, este aceea ca exista si "incetineli bune". Ele inseamna sa ne facem timp sa mancam cu familia, cu televizorul stins. Sau sa ne facem timp sa privim problemele din toate unghiurile in birou si sa luam cea mai buna decizie la locul de munca. Sau poate doar sa ne facem timp sa o luam mai incet si sa savuram viata.
Now, one of the things that I found most uplifting about all of this stuff that's happened around the book since it came out, is the reaction to it. And I knew that when my book on slowness came out, it would be welcomed by the New Age brigade, but it's also been taken up, with great gusto, by the corporate world -- you know, business press, but also big companies and leadership organizations. Because people at the top of the chain, people like you, I think, are starting to realize that there's too much speed in the system, there's too much busyness, and it's time to find, or get back to that lost art of shifting gears. Another encouraging sign, I think, is that it's not just in the developed world that this idea's been taken up. In the developing world, in countries that are on the verge of making that leap into first world status -- China, Brazil, Thailand, Poland, and so on -- these countries have embraced the idea of the Slow Movement, many people in them, and there's a debate going on in their media, on the streets. Because I think they're looking at the West, and they're saying, "Well, we like that aspect of what you've got, but we're not so sure about that."
Cel mai inaltator lucru pe care l-am descoperit legat de ce s-a intamplat cu cartea de la aparitia ei, a fost reactia pe care a starnit-o. Stiam ca atunci cand va aparea cartea mea despre incetineala, va fi salutata de brigada New Age, dar ea a fost acceptata cu mult entuziasm si de lumea corporatista, stiti, de presa de afaceri dar si de marile companii si de organizatiile de leadership. Si asta pentru ca oamenii din varful piramidei, oameni ca voi, cred eu, incep sa inteleaga ca exista prea multa viteza in sistem, prea multa agitatie, si ca este timpul sa descoperim sau sa revenim la arta pierduta a schimbarii vitezelor. Un alt semnal incurajator, cred, este ca aceasta idee nu a fost adoptata numai in zonele dezvoltate ale lumii. In cele in curs de dezvoltare, in tarile care sunt pe cale sa faca saltul in categoria tarilor dezvoltate, China, Brazilia, Tailanda, Polonia si asa mai departe, in aceste tari a fost adoptata Miscarea Lentorii de catre multi oameni si a aparut o dezbatere in mass-media lor, pe strazi. Pentru ca eu cred ca se uita spre Vest si isi spun "Uite, ne place aceasta parte din ceea ce aveti voi, dar nu suntem prea siguri de aceasta."
So all of that said, is it, I guess, is it possible? That's really the main question before us today. Is it possible to slow down? And I'm happy to be able to say to you that the answer is a resounding yes. And I present myself as Exhibit A, a kind of reformed and rehabilitated speed-aholic. I still love speed. You know, I live in London, and I work as a journalist, and I enjoy the buzz and the busyness, and the adrenaline rush that comes from both of those things. I play squash and ice hockey, two very fast sports, and I wouldn't give them up for the world. But I've also, over the last year or so, got in touch with my inner tortoise.
Acestea fiind zise, este oare, este posibil? Aceasta e principala intrebare pe care ne-o punem astazi. Este posibil sa incetinim? Si eu sunt fericit sa va spun ca raspunsul este un DA rasunator. Eu sunt dovada A, un dependent de viteza oarecum reformat si reabilitat. Inca iubesc viteza. Stiti, eu stau in Londra si lucrez ca jurnalist, si imi place zumzetul si agitatia si aportul de adrenalina pe care le aduc amandoua. Joc squash si hochei pe gheata, doua sporturi foarte rapide, si n-as renunta la ele pentru nimic in lume. Dar in ultimul an, am inceput sa restabilesc legatura cu broasca testoasa din mine.
(Laughter)
(Rasete)
And what that means is that I no longer overload myself gratuitously. My default mode is no longer to be a rush-aholic. I no longer hear time's winged chariot drawing near, or at least not as much as I did before. I can actually hear it now, because I see my time is ticking off. And the upshot of all of that is that I actually feel a lot happier, healthier, more productive than I ever have. I feel like I'm living my life rather than actually just racing through it. And perhaps, the most important measure of the success of this is that I feel that my relationships are a lot deeper, richer, stronger.
Asta inseamna ca, de la o vreme, nu ma mai supraincarc fara sens. Nu mai functionez automat ca un dependent de graba. Nu mai aud carul inaripat al timpului cum se apropie, sau cel putin nu atat cat il auzeam inainte. De fapt pot sa-l aud acum, pentru ca vad cum mi se termina timpul. Iar partea buna a acestui lucru este ca ma simt chiar mult mai fericit, mai sanatos, mai productiv decat oricand. Simt ca imi traiesc viata in loc sa alerg prin ea. Si poate cel mai important indicator al acestui fapt este ca simt ca relatiile mele sunt mai profunde, mai bogate, mai puternice.
And for me, I guess, the litmus test for whether this would work, and what it would mean, was always going to be bedtime stories, because that's sort of where the journey began. And there too the news is rosy. You know, at the end of the day, I go into my son's room. I don't wear a watch. I switch off my computer, so I can't hear the email pinging into the basket, and I just slow down to his pace and we read. And because children have their own tempo and internal clock, they don't do quality time, where you schedule 10 minutes for them to open up to you. They need you to move at their rhythm. I find that 10 minutes into a story, you know, my son will suddenly say, "You know, something happened in the playground today that really bothered me." And we'll go off and have a conversation on that. And I now find that bedtime stories used to be a box on my to-do list, something that I dreaded, because it was so slow and I had to get through it quickly. It's become my reward at the end of the day, something I really cherish. And I have a kind of Hollywood ending to my talk this afternoon, which goes a little bit like this:
Iar pentru mine, testul cu turnesol, sa zicem, care imi arata daca functioneaza si ce semnifica, il reprezinta povestile de adormit copiii, pentru ca de fapt de acolo a pornit toata aventura. Si acolo vestile sunt de asemenea bune, stiti, la sfarsitul zilei, merg in camera fiului meu. Nu port ceas. Imi inchid calculatorul, asa ca nu pot auzi cand imi vine un e-mail, si incetinesc pana la ritmul lui si citim. Si pentru ca toti copiii au ceasul lor intern si ritmul lor, copiii nu acorda "timp de calitate" cand iti planifici 10 minute ca ei sa se deschida in fata ta. Ei au nevoie ca tu sa te misti in ritmul lor. Am vazut ca la 10 minute dupa ce am inceput o poveste, fiul meu imi spune dintr-odata "Stii, mi s-a intamplat ceva la joaca si m-a suparat tare." Si incepem sa conversam pe tema asta. Si acum imi da seama ca povestile de seara obisnuiau sa fie un fel de casuta pe care trebuia s-o bifez, ceva de care mi-era groaza, pentru ca erau lente si trebuia sa trec repede peste ele. Au devenit rasplata mea la sfarsitul zilei, ceva ce am ajuns sa pretuiesc mult. Am un fel de final de Hollywood pentru discursul din aceasta dupa-amiaza, care suna cam asa.
a few months ago, I was getting ready to go on another book tour, and I had my bags packed. I was downstairs by the front door, and I was waiting for a taxi, and my son came down the stairs and he'd made a card for me. And he was carrying it. He'd gone and stapled two cards, very like these, together, and put a sticker of his favorite character, Tintin, on the front. And he said to me, or he handed this to me, and I read it, and it said, "To Daddy, love Benjamin." And I thought, "Aw, that's really sweet. Is that a good luck on the book tour card?" And he said, "No, no, no, Daddy -- this is a card for being the best story reader in the world." And I thought, "Yeah, you know, this slowing down thing really does work."
Acum cateva luni, ma pregateam sa plec intr-un alt turneu cu cartea, si aveam gentile pregatite. Eram jos, in fata usii, asteptam un taxi, si a coborat fiul meu pe scari si imi facuse o felicitare. Si o luase cu el. Prinsese cu capse doua cartonase, cam ca astea, si pusese un abtibild cu personajul lui preferat, Tintin, pe fata. Si mi-a zis, sau mi-a dat-o si eu am citit-o, scria "Pentru tati, cu drag Benjamin." Si m-am gandit "Ce dragut, e o felicitare sa-mi poarte noroc in turneu?" Si el a zis "Nu, nu, nu, tati -- este o felicitare pentru ca esti cel mai bun cititor de povesti din lume." Si m-am gandit, "Da, stii, treaba asta cu incetinitul chiar functioneaza."
Thank you very much.
Va multumesc foarte mult.