Why we need to slow down

Ever feel life’s too fast? Eric Gaudion invites us to pause, breathe, and rediscover the beauty of slow to achieve lasting value.

One day recently I got into my car and turned to drive up the road outside our house in Guernsey and surprisingly joined a queue of cars that appeared to be waiting for something large and slow to come down the hill.

After a few minutes of fighting my own frustration, down the hill with a gentle clip-clop came the wonderful spectacle of a horse and buggy, with two amiable older gentlemen chatting to one another.

Behind them a long line of approaching cars and vans was being forced to slow down and proceed at 19th-century speed! I feared the worst and thought that someone was going to start sounding their horn, perhaps scaring the poor horse, but I was in for a surprise.

As the procession passed me, I wound down my window and switched off my engine just to appreciate the moment more fully. Others had done the same. The sweet sound of the horse’s clopping and the gentle rumble of the cartwheels filled my car, together with the friendly banter of the two men. For a few seconds I was transported to an earlier, quieter age. It was a precious moment of sanity.

As I restarted my car and moved on past the approaching line-up of cart followers, my expectation of angry and frustrated fellow drivers was dispersed.

All I got was smiles and kindly looks, with people pointing forward at the lovely anachronism that was hindering their progress. It was as if the apparition from yesteryear was healing something in our crazily hurried culture.

 … story continues