How come we’ve allowed ourselves to rush through our lives? We’re all privy to the fact that we only have one, yet we still somehow managed to convince ourselves that it should be hurried through. Maybe we have culture to blame — hustle culture specifically.
Hustle culture primes one to constantly be focused on the future, incessantly setting goals, and chasing them. To hustle, according to Oxford languages, is to force (someone) “to move hurriedly or unceremoniously in a specified direction.” As it relates to our present reality, we hustle to secure a job, a home, a marriage, wealth, or other external markers of success, believing that these things will once and for all bring us everlasting happiness.
However, we never seem to obtain this reward of perpetual happiness. Like a rabbit chasing the carrot on the stick, we continuously rush to obtain these things. And, once we do, the dopamine hit lasts momentarily before we set our sets on something else to chase. This cycle will go on and on until we realize that the thing that will actually bring about the fulfillment we are looking for can only be found in one place: the present.
“The whole problem of justifying nature, of trying to make life mean something in terms of its future, disappears utterly,” Alan Watts wrote in The Wisdom of Insecurity. “Obviously, it all exists for this moment. It is a dance, and when you are dancing you are not intent on getting somewhere… The meaning and purpose of dancing is the dance.”
It’s difficult for many people to wrap their minds around the idea of living without an intense focus on the future. After all, we are told that in order to be prosperous and successful, we have to create plans, plans projected as far as five years into the future. We have to continuously want more, to seek more. But with all this rushing, planning, and chasing, we miss the point of life entirely.
Life isn’t meant to be hurried through. It’s meant to be experienced fully. And for this to happen, we have to slow down. This sentiment is embodied in the slow living movement.
Before the slow living movement was the slow food movement, which began as began as a protest against a McDonald’s being built in the heart of Rome in 1986. It may come as a surprise that a group of people would reject the convenience, quickness, and instant gratification that a McDonald’s provides, but, in a culture that values quality, nourishing food, a McDonald’s would be a disturbance rather than a benefit. So, a movement formed to maintain those values, values that didn’t seek to compromise food quality for convenience and speed. Eventually, the slow food movement gave wings to the slow living movement.
The slow living movement is exactly what meets the eye: it’s making the conscious choice to slow down. This means returning to our natural rhythms, practicing mindfulness, and maintaining an attitude of quality living. It’s, as they say, taking time to smell the roses.
The rotten fruit that has come from hustle culture has shown us that it is not sustainable. People are becoming burnt out, depressed, and engulfed in anxiety. These symptoms have become normalized, but it is far from the wellness that is our birthright. We owe it to ourselves to create boundaries that align with a pace of life that allows us to not not only tend to our basic needs but also to dwell peacefully in the present moment.
When we slow down, we reclaim the time that is ours and we, above all, give ourselves permission to enjoy the dance.
If you enjoyed this blog post, let me know in the comments!
For similar posts, click here.
To stay inspired, follow @ aaliyahinspired on Instagram and Youtube.
Leave a Reply