Forcing a slow down. Just because everything is moving fast, it doesn't mean you can't control your own speed.

Life moves fast, especially nowadays. Think back to the history of The Titanic, why were they all on that ocean liner?  Because they needed to get home.  It was luxurious on the upper decks but a majority of the passengers were in the lower and lesser decks.  They were all taking a long slow trip to cross the ocean because that was a way to get there.  Move a head over a hundred years and not only are people crossing the ocean in less than a day but a person on one side of the world can speak to someone on the other side in real time.  I dated a soldier who was deployed for a short time and could only send and wait for letters.  35 years later, I could speak with my own deployed son in real time over my cell phone.

As an artist, I remember a time when we had to get an entire edition of prints done all at once.  Now; not only can you print as you need them but you can take the information with you to another print shop if you have to.  If my print guy's shop burns down, (god forbid) I could get them done someplace else without missing a beat.  I can send my print image around the world if I want to! I can apply to galleries in other parts of the world by sitting at my desk in Spokane Wa.  It used to be me sending one of my originals, a hard copy of my portfolio, and a written CV.  

Infections move faster, we have bugs and snakes that are naturalizing in our country that started out in other ends of the world.  Look at COVID, when the Titanic sank, it would have taken a year to get the illness around the world.  It took the Black Plague 4 years to surround the globe.  Now, we have vaccines for illnesses.  It took us less than a year to create a vaccine to combat COVID.

How do we slow down?  We step back.  Think of life like a river; the farther you get into it, the faster the current moves you.  Consider stepping back as a way to move closer to the shore.  You can still move forward but you can choose the pace.  Now, you can't control how fast the rest of the world moves and yes, it will move on without you.  Is that really bad?  You can pick up speed again if you are ready.  It isn't a bad thing to step back and regroup, find your feet as it were.  A better connection with the bed rock will help you not get beat up in the flow.  Don't let social media, the news, gossip and everything moving fast around you; push you too hard.  You have a choice, make decisions with purpose.