Slow Is Beautiful with Cecile Andrews

Time for social networks

2009-12-11T14:59:00.000-08:00

A new book Connected: The Surprising Poer of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives (2009, Little, Brown, and Co) has some important ideas for social change organizations. Create networks! If you really want to bring about change, don't just send out information in the form of newsletters, web sites, or magazines, create networks! You've probably heard something about the ideas of Christakis and Fowler — the news stories announce the fact that if your friend loses weight, you are more likely to lose weight. If your friend's friend is happy, you are more likely to be happy. In other words, emotions and actions spread. As I've said for many years (I heard it from someone and I like it) we become like the people we hang around. When I was a community college administrator I was a much stuffier person than when I was hanging around with faculty. I always used this as cautionary advice to people, telling them to be careful who they hung around with.

But it's just as important for social groups to understand. If you want people to behave differently, form groups and work with the leaders of the groups. If you want people to be more altruistic, select an altristic person as leader and give him or her information about the importance of altruism. If you want people to act more sustainably and reduce their carbon footprint, form a group and encourage the members to bring about changes. They are more likely to do this when they talk about the changes in their group than if you just give them their information on an individual basis.

What this says to me is that simplicity circles are very important! People are much more likely to live simply if they are in a simplicity group. Further, the effect will be even wider because each of these people is a member of other groups and they will affect their members.

We've always known that there are certain things that happen more efficiently if people act together. The authors use the example of putting out a fire. If you have people running to a river and carrying back buckets of water to a burning house, they are not as effective as the group that forms a line and passes the water along.

Further, it's clear that cooeration is part of our nature and has resulted at least in part, from evolution. There are just certain things done better if done with others — like fighting wild animals or predatory groups.

But we have forgotten all of this in the US. Our ultra individualistic tendencies have made us ignore the importance of groups. Now happiness research is showing that people who have strong social ties are both happier and healthier. Again, it seems like common sense, but we don't seem to pay attention to things in this culture until the academic researchers pronounce that something is so. The true test is that we must begin to act on this knowldege by not only helping to form social networks but by creating a culture that brings people together. We need more public spaces and festivals as well as shorter working hours and less commuting in private cars. We need to quit encouraging competition and making rich people into celebrities. The best thing we can do is create wealth equality, because inequality encourages people to be out for themselves and to put greed ahead of caring.

Ultimately, we need to create a culture with more time for social ties.

Social support helps you live longer

2009-01-17T17:28:00.000-08:00

What would Reagan say? When Russia switched from a communist economy to a capitalist free market economy, life expectancy for men dropped from 67 to 60. A similar drop occurred in most of the former Soviet countries, a new study says.
There were a few exceptions where this didn't happen Poland and the Czech Republic. What was the difference? Social support.

"The authors suggest that the existence of trade unions, churches, sports, political organizations and other social organizations played a significant role in cushioning adults’ stress during the transitions.

“In countries in which more than 45 percent of the population was a member of a social organization, mass privatization had no significant adverse association with mortality rates,” the report said."

As we face the traumas of our economy, we need to make sure there is this kind of support. We need to create community to help people weather the storm.

New film: Close to Home

2009-01-06T09:55:00.000-08:00

this is a video of me talking about slow is beautiful and community

Anxiety and How to Combat It — Slowly

2008-08-27T11:36:00.000-07:00

These days I seem to feel anxious a good deal of the time. I wake up and read the The New York Times and end the day watching Jon Stewart.

Just those two things can make you feel anxious because you're reminded just how bad things really are.

And of course in between I feel anxious because my world is in a constant state of rush and distraction. Little time to sit and do nothing.

I realized the other day, though, that there is a time when this anxiety recedes. When I'm hanging out in congenial company, just passing the time of day, talking about nothing important, just laughing and enjoying ourselves.

It works so much better than pills. But don't expect the health care industry to tell you that. There's not much money in encouraging people to hang out with their friends.

I think a lot of people feel anxious, and this just might be what we need to do: to realize that we need each other a lot more than we need drugs, consumer goods, possessions, money and status.

Vacationing Can Really Mean Something!

2008-08-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

As summer passes, we're reminded how important vacations are. In part, it's about happiness. There are certain abilities we need to be happy: and they're falling into disuse. You can relearn them on vacation.

For instance, the ability to sit and do nothing! Watch the waves, the sun go down. This experience of deep absorbtion is what allows us to feel deeply.

Another neglected ability is the ability to be leisurely: to take your time, to notice, to appreciate. In particular, this is important for relationships, and good relationships are at the heart of happiness. You can't have good relationships if you're harried and distracted.

And finally, the ability to reflect: to take stock of your life and ask if you're living the way you want. This is something we usually do on vacations, and may neglect if we never escape.

So you can revive these basic abilities when you go on vacation.

Latest tech breakthrough: Replacing phone bot with human!

2008-08-22T20:37:00.000-07:00

Technology continues to make it difficult to live a slower, richer life.

For instance, I recently tried to solve a problem with a magazine I had ordered and never received. First, there are a long list of options on the web site. I chose to make the phone call, but that shoved me into the "automatic" subscription representative.

In other words, I was talking to a computer, one that couldn't understand me no matter how clearly I spoke! After repeating myself numerous times, I pressed the bottom for getting a new subscription. I figured there would be a real person for that! I was right, and it was taken care of immediately.

This was wasted time! A real person worked better! We must question just how much technology can do!

Equal wages for equal-ity

2008-08-22T20:35:00.000-07:00

Equality works best.

As our wealth gap grows, our longevity shrinks. (The biggest predictor for the health of a nation is the wealth gap. A large gap destroys social cohesion creating a ruthless and highly stressful society. Even rich people don't live as long!)

One way to create a stronger and larger middle class is to start doing something about corporate salaries. They're doing this in Europe, particularly in Holland. As the report says: "Europeans have become too accustomed to living in relatively equal societies to tolerate American-style executive pay."

You not only need a minimum wage, but a maximum wage as well.

Lakoff, Democracy Conversations and Dave Winer Podcast

2008-03-07T10:14:00.000-08:00

Our March series on "Democracy Conversations" here in Seattle is focusing on George Lakoff's new book Thinking Points. Each week we get together to discuss two chapters -- we call it a "slow reading" group! Last night we also listened to a riveting podcast, an interview between blogging legend Dave Winer and Lakoff. For anyone seeking to understand exactly how Lakoff's philosophy of framing applies to real-life scenarios, the podcast, put together the day after the Texas-Ohio primaries, really nails it. It's one of the few podcasts I can think of where listening two or three times is worth it. Lakoff's concepts make so much sense that at first you think, "Oh yeah, I get that." But then, as you mull over his words, you find yourself understanding his subtlety and depth in new and exciting ways. Dave is a skillful interviewer, having a sixth sense about prompting Lakoff to explain more, or introduce a related topic that will give meaning to Lakoff's theories. (Dave has posted a full rundown on the podcast and response.)

Here's an example: It was interesting, reading Hillary-lover Paul Krugman's analysis this morning, where Krugman said Dems should focus on the economy instead of the war. Lakoff brilliantly notes in the podcast that Dems should be using the term "the Iraq recession." Two birds, one stone, and a memorable "sound bite" as well.

In his book, Thinking Points: Communicating Our American Values and Vision, Lakoff says that we need to articulate our progressive vision in "grassroots groups all over America. Not just for the next election but indefinitely-- election or no election."

And that's what we're doing in our Democracy Conversations group here in Seattle. As part of our effort to build community and civic engagement in our neighborhood Phinney Ecovillage, we're coming together each Thursday night in the local library trying to learn from Lakoff how we can talk about the issues confronting us. Progressives need to take back the discussion about security, the economy, and patriotism and link these to a vision of America that says "we're all in this together" that the "important American values are empathy and responsibility," as Lakoff says.

Saint-Exupery, the author of Little Prince, said that "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."

We have to inspire in people a vision of a country committed to the common good.
And we need to learn to do it in our face to face conversations as we go through our day. Our assignment in our group: Talk to at least two people a day about these issues! As John Dewey said, "Democracy is born in conversation."

Kids Need Play, Not Commercialization

2008-02-27T20:00:00.000-08:00

We're beginning to realize that playing is important for kids. It develops their imagination, their creativity, and now, something they call "self-regulation." A story on NPR's Morning Edition reports that something momentous happened in 1955 that no one really noticed: Companies started massive advertising for kids' toys. Since then, kids' play has become more and more involved with "things" instead of imagination.

Further, because of parents concern about safety, kids have less chance to roam freely. And finally, with our concern about achievement, both parents and teachers spend time trying to build cognitive skills so the kids can go to top colleges. Even the schools have cut back on recess to have time to prepare for all the tests.

To put it simply, psychologists have discovered that when kids don't play and build "self-regulation" -- the ability to learn from and control their emotions -- they have less self-discipline, less ability to pursue their goals.

The moral of the story is "Bring play back." This seems to be very important. But how will we adults react? "OK, you kids, I want you to spend the next hour playing, or you'll never get into Stanford." And if the kids are playing, the grownups can catch up on their work!

Obviously, unless adults learn to play, or experience leisure, the kids are not going to learn it. Kids learn from what their parents are doing. Leisure often looks like you're doing nothing in particular. Can adults still do that?

Can Starbucks Learn Local Is Beautiful?

2008-01-30T08:30:00.000-08:00

The New York Times has a story about a local Kansas City coffeehouse forcing a neighboring Starbucks to pack it in.

"Next door, the Broadway Cafe was bustling. 'You win because of the coffee,' said Jon Cates, one of the owners..."

While coffee quality may be in the Broadway Cafe's favor, it's hardly the only reason coffeehouse lovers prefer the Broadway. This phenomenon is going on around Seattle, too, as places like Herkimer and Zoka and Louisa's gather in the caffeinated set while Starbucks scratches its head about what to do.

As the espresso version of a gas station, Starbucks may have enjoyed popularity for fuel 'n run types during the fast-lane boom of the '90s and early turn of the century. Starbucks outlets may get you on your way with a minimum of waiting -- there's even an Apple project to iPhone your order in so you don't have to do all that dreary standing in line -- but as such they don't really want customers tarrying over their double latte talls.

As we enter a new Slow Era, however, with a slowing economy and less insane lifestyle, coffee is returning to its roots as a linger-and-talk beverage. The coffeehouses that have lots of places to sit, a down-home atmosphere and plenty of people around will win over a Starbucks any time.

The irony in Seattle, of course, is that Starbucks actually is a "local" company. We can only hope Howard Schultz and his merry band of coffee purveyors get clued about changing times and demographics. Bigger stores, more lounging, a softer pace...will it work? Or is the "chain" reputation of Starbucks too entrenched to bring people back?

It's possible there are just too many coffeehouses, too, as my husband's "End of the Universe" (Lewis Black routine) video below shows:

"Slow Is Beautiful" Makes 'Notable Titles' List

2008-01-23T18:01:00.000-08:00

Elliott Bay Book Co.'s Karen Maeda Allman sent along wonderful news today: Slow Is Beautiful has made the American Booksellers Association's "Shop Local Notable Titles" list. The list honors "informative titles on the importance of building and strengthening a vibrant local economy" and includes Bill McKibben's Deep Economy and Robert Putnam's Better Together, as well as my friend David Korten's The Great Turning. Thank you ABA!

The full list is available from BookWeb here. Note other titles from New Society Publishers, who published my book:

The New Village Green: Living Light, Living Local, Living Large, by Stephen Morris.

The Better World Handbook: Small Changes that Make a Big Difference, by Ellis Jones.

Great Neighborhood Book: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Placemaking, by Jay Walljasper.

Snow Means Slow

2007-12-27T16:36:00.000-08:00

Have you noticed how much slower life becomes when snow hits in Seattle? Particularly striking is the lack of car traffic. It's as though three-fourths of car trips are entirely discretionary. Somehow even though all these people aren't driving around, the world doesn't come to a stop.

We need to treat more days as "snow days," where we focus on things that don't require getting into a car and driving around. It would help us slow down, but also would help save the planet.

My husband loves to ride his bike in the snow!

Social networking no substitute for in the flesh

2007-12-10T08:02:00.000-08:00

New York Times ("Friending, Ancient or Otherwise") talks about the new “oral” culture in discussing on line social networks, quoting academics saying that this kind of communication is similar to tribal communication of the past. That we’re basically talking when we blog and text message. After running on like this for several lines, the author finally asks whether there is any credence to this, quoting another academic saying that the more time we spend online “talking,” the less time we spend really talking.

Yes, people may be communicating online, but let’s face it. Nothing is a substitute for the REAL THING! One of the themes in my book is about learning to tell the difference between real and counterfeit community. Television and malls comprise counterfeit community! Is social networking counterfeit community? Well, it’s not as bad as TV and malls, but it should be being used to get people to talk face to face.

In a time of disasters, gap needs shrinking

2007-12-10T07:42:00.000-08:00

The “Slow” culture — one in which we have time to enjoy the things that matter –- requires a small gap between the rich and the poor. Yes, we can all live a little more simply and slow our pace, but to really live the “good” life , we need equality. A fresh example: In the Nov 17th issue of the Nation Naomi Klein (Shock Doctrine) writes about private companies like Blackwater who will provide services to the rich in times of emergency, like fires or terrorist attacks. She tells about how a private company sprayed fire retardant on some of the houses in the San Diego fire and she goes on to tell about other companies who will provide escape in private jets for disasters like Katrina. Of course it’s all very expensive. Obviously, when the rich get tax breaks, they can afford things like this, while the rest of us have to make do with reduced services of the government who have cut back because the rich aren’t paying their share of the taxes.

The invidious daisy chain of exploitation is currently on display in Lewis County here in Washington State. Record floods have devastated homes and businesses, but the average Joe and Jill is being hit far harder than Wal-Mart and Home Depot, and the logging companies that caused the destruction. In fact, logging companies not only get government subsidies but walk away from devastation without paying a nickel.

Perhaps the rich should be levied a "disaster tax" that would help pay for the public's recovery after the ruination of other people's lives that greed and arrogance cause.

When Traffic Is Too Slow to be Beautiful

2007-10-18T08:54:00.000-07:00

Some slow things are not beautiful:

Drivers waste nearly an entire work week each year sitting in traffic on the way to and from their jobs according to the Texas Transportation Institute's 2007 Urban Mobility Report. The study concludes that drivers wasted 2.9 billion gallons of fuel while sitting in traffic. Together with the lost time, traffic delays cost the nation $78.2 billion, the study estimates.

The only way we’ll fix a problem in this country is to put it into the form of dollars. Maybe nobody considers our lost time important, but Americans do understand losing money.

Try to spread these figures around as you talk to people. Maybe someday the facts will wake us up!

To Understand Spying, The Film "Lives of Others"

2007-10-18T08:26:00.000-07:00

A foreign film, "The Lives of Others," offers us a different kind of hero. In WWII's battle against Nazi fascism, a distinguished hero was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a man put to death for being part of a plot to assassinate Hitler. Few of us feel that we could be that kind of hero. But maybe we could be the kind of hero depicted in this East German film, where a government agent chooses to "spy" without incriminating a popular writer, ultimately protecting the writer from being blacklisted and having his career destroyed.

The hero, the government spy, bears the consequences of his actions. And that seemed to be how the East German Police (Stasi) controlled people — by threatening to ruin their careers. In my book Slow Is Beautiful I discuss how this was also true during Hitler’s reign. Roger Gottlieb, in A Spirituality of Resistance, tells the stories of the "little men" in the Gestapo who obeyed orders for the sake of furthering their careers. Yes, he says, there were Jew haters, but most of the people just went along because they didn’t want to threaten their careers by not supporting the Nazis.

How many of us compromise for the sake of our careers? We may not be spying on others for the Bush administration, but we go along with things every day that are leading us to a nation with hollow freedoms and eroded well-being. How many times do we do questionable things because it would be good for our careers? Like working for corporations that support Bush or ruin the environment or pay low wages or cut people’s benefits. We’re not really bad people. We’re just not doing what we know is right.

Few of us can be Bonhoeffers, but maybe more of us can be a “little” hero, by finding small ways to be true to ourselves. The spy’s career in the East German civil service was ruined by his resistance, but in the end his life was redeemed.

Farmers Markets: Social Groceries

2007-06-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

It’s clear that we must create a vibrant sustainable culture that resists the lethal corporate consumer culture. One of the most exciting things happening in this arena is the food revolution. As Michael Pollen writes about farmers markets, it’s not just that you get good food, but you also participate in community:

“We like what happens socially at the farmer’s market, which is quickly emerging as the new public square in this country. If you compare what happens in the aisles at the grocery store with the farmer’s market, think about what a world of difference that is. At the farmer’s market country meets city. Children are introduced to where their food comes from. People politic. They have petitions. They schmooze. It’s an incredibly vibrant space.”

Farmers markets reduce the use of energy from shipping food thousands of miles as well as contribute to people’s health with their fresh and organic food. I value the farmers markets for the lesson they teach Americans: How to hang out with each other for the sheer joy of it.

Enjoy Your Life, and Others Will Too

2007-06-06T11:02:00.000-07:00

We’re supposed to be enjoying ourselves. People on the right are often filled with hate, but those of us on the left are angry or self-righteous a lot of the time. The best way to draw people into our movement is to welcome people and help them enjoy themselves. One of our longtime progressives, Barbara Ehrenreich, reminds us of that in her new book, Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy.

She shows how essential collective joy is to us, as human beings, and how dancing always threatens those in power. Where are our liberal dances! Bring back rock and roll parties. Let’s scare the people in charge!

Catch Barbara's message in a New York Times piece.

Re-Localization: How It Comes Together

2007-05-27T14:12:00.000-07:00

I just returned from our every-Sunday Ballard Farmers' Market where we got some salmon that was swimming yesterday (which makes you a little sad, really. I understand vegetarians!). We got some lettuce, carrots, and potatoes which were in the ground yesterday, and some eggs that were under chickens early this morning.

Then I came back home and settled down to a cup of tea from our local, independent herb/tea shop to read the current issue of Bob Banner’s wonderful publication, HopeDance. HopeDance is a newspaper, published every other month in San Luis Obispo, CA, that explores all things progressive and sustainable. This month’s issue is on the new localization movement.

(Or relocalization. Which is better, localization or relocalization? In some ways we’re returning to the past, but in other ways we’re creating something new.)

It’s an incredibly exciting issue, talking about all the things people are doing to revive our neighborhoods and local regions, everything from farmers' markets to shopping local.

It’s always nice to know you’re part of a larger movement, and localization is what we’re trying to do in Phinney Ecovillage. While some communities start with “issues,” like peak oil or shopping locally, we started with the “social” factor first. Our principal efforts are to bring people together to enjoy convivial conversation and to get to know their neighbors. Of course we focus on issues like global warming, peak oil, and shopping local, but our emphasis is always on community and congeniality. We like to call our little ecovillage "an oasis of conviviality."

In a way, these goals are harder in our neighborhood because it’s a very progressive area and people tend to see more value in coming out to hear an anti-war lecture than just getting together to talk with their neighbors.

But maybe getting to know your neighbors is the most radical step we can take, if “radical” means getting back to the roots. Maybe if we learn to care about our own species, we’ll learn to care about other species. If we learn community with each other, we can learn community with the Earth.

Of course global warming and peak oil will force us to return to the local because we cannot go on shipping things around the globe, using all that oil. But how much better if we create some models that work while we have a chance! The wonderful thing is that we’re not talking about bitter medicine here, but a leisurely, joyful way of life.

In any case, check our the May/June issue of HopeDance on (re)localization!

Time to Declare E-Mail Bankruptcy?

2007-05-26T07:51:00.000-07:00

When I give talks on my book, Slow is Beautiful, I ask people what their time issues are. More and more people say it’s email. Finally, a way to deal with it has emerged: Send out a message telling everyone that you’re declaring e-mail bankruptcy and that you’re starting over anew.

I’ve also thought of leaving on my “out of office” message all the time. That way, no one expects an answer very soon, and as time passes, they’ll forget they ever sent you a message.

The polite thing might be to have an auto-response that says, “ I’m overwhelmed with email. Please accept my apology for not replying in a timely fashion.”

As a Washington Post article indicates, really important people are starting to get out of email altogether. Maybe not having email will be the new status indicator and everyone will follow suit and the problem will be solved!

Hi, I'm Joan and I'm a Workaholic

2007-05-26T07:48:00.000-07:00

What do we do about our extreme working hours? Everything suffers: our health, our relationships, our civic engagement, our creativity, and even, eventually, the workplace. Americans have much worse health that Europeans and that brings absenteeism, turnover, and more mistakes to our workplaces. And what happens to kids?

How can Americans learn to think in terms of the long run instead of short term results?
Some of the people working 16 hour days claim they love it. But how long can they keep it up before they fall apart?

We need policies that give people shorter work hours, but this won’t happen until people demand it. Americans still don’t realize how important it is to have balance in life. We need a movement for a healthier work place. The Take Back Your Time movement is working for this.

Some people are starting to understand and have joined “workaholics anonymous.” Maybe the only way we can change is to join with others and tell our stories and to begin to gain strength from each other.

Keep On Talking to Change the World

2007-05-22T21:02:00.000-07:00

On his 90th birthday, American philosopher, John Dewey said: “Democracy is born in conversation.” Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone, said that the culture in which people talk to each other over the back fence is the culture in which people vote. Sociologist Etzioni said that social change is accomplished through a national conversation, where everyone is talking about something and a groundswell for change emerges.

Our goal, then, is to keep talking about climate change, declining happiness, long work hours, and all the other problems facing us. Try introducing these topics into the casual conversations you have throughout the day with people you talk to while you’re standing in a line or in some business interaction. I had a wonderful conversation the other day with a taxi driver about the environment. I mentioned global warming and then he talked about the honey bees dying off and I told him I’d read it wasn’t happening to the organic bees, but mainly the bees maintained by corporate agriculture where they pump them with antibiotics to make them grow larger, and nature’s way is thrown off.

It sure makes your day more interesting!

Working Too Many Hours: Flexibility Needed

2007-05-11T11:08:00.000-07:00

The root of the problem of our time crisis is the workplace. We work too many hours. In the past, we got people’s attention when we told them that we work nine weeks more than the average European. But now that example isn’t going to work as well. Even though there is much evidence that the French 35-hour work week is successful by many criteria, the French have a new leader who opposes it. Maybe we should talk about “flexibility” in the workplace. A story posted on Tom Paine makes such a suggestion and presents a good argument.

"Workplace flexibility is about innovations in how work gets done. It includes flexibility in the scheduling of full-time hours, flexibility in the number of hours worked and the location of work, career flexibility with multiple points for exit and re-entry into the work force and the flexibility to address unexpected and ongoing personal and family needs.

"The implementation of flexible workplaces can be achieved without sacrificing employers' strategic business and organizational objectives. It does not have to mean businesses suffer. In fact, groups from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to Corporate Voices for Working Families maintain that flexible workplace arrangements can help businesses recruit and retain employees."

Many professionals already have some flexibility, although not often in the length of working weeks. But so many people think we can’t have laws that give us a longer vacation or a shorter work day, that talking about flexibility might be the foot in the door.

Kurt Vonnegut, the Archetypal Scamp, Dies

2007-04-12T07:37:00.000-07:00

Kurt Vonnegut died last night, about the same time we were discussing him in our book group, Santoro's Subversive Salon (a name he surely would have liked).

Vonnegut had a moral clarity that separated the true meaning of life from the horrific noise of marketing, overwork and racing around. In my book I call him the ultimate scamp, ending Slow Is Beautiful with an anecdote about his leisurely approach (loafing) to his day:

"...how he still works on an old typewriter and then calls up a woman who types a fresh copy and then goes out to the stationery store and then to the post office, talking and visiting with people as he goes along. His wife (Jill Krementz) tells him that he's being silly for not getting a computer — he could just type his story up and send it off and save himself a lot of trouble. No, he retorts: 'And I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any different'."

Words to live by, and afterward. Thank you Kurt, wherever you are.

Finland: Small Wealth Gap Equals Better Schools

2007-04-12T07:16:00.000-07:00

US News & World Report in its March 26-April 2 issue focused on what we can learn from the rest of the world. One short article talked about how Finland has some of the best schools on the planet. Finnish 15-year-olds score at the top in reading and math and science in international rankings. They’re also top in literacy. The US, on the other hand, is way down the list about 18th, 22nd, and 28th, respectively. Finland also has the smallest gap between the best and weakest students, and is number two in gaps between between schools.

The article talks about what Finnish schools have done to bring this about. For one, teaching has high prestige, up there with doctors and lawyers. Classes are small. And one of the most interesting facts is that there are no “honors” classes or “college prep” classes. Finland got rid of the class system differentiating vocational and college-bound schools and created comprehensive schools where even the learning-disabled are in the same classes as all the rest.

What this article fails to note is that it isn’t just what the schools are doing, but what the society as a whole is doing. Finland has the smallest gap between rich and poor of any nation, and its social safety net is one of the most generous. Finns have an average of 30 days of paid vacation, and of course national health care. Finland has also been ranked by the World Economic Forum as the most competitive nation in terms of economics. In other words, they’re doing well.

The performance of the schools shows that equality works best. The schools aren’t just doing well because there are small classes, but because of the small wealth gap. Teaching has prestige because it isn’t at the bottom of the pay scale in the professions.

As I say in my book, the gap between the rich and the poor is the biggest predictor of the health of a nation, and now we can see it is also one of the biggest predictors of educational achievement.

Bichons Against Bush! Slow Protests against the War

2007-01-30T23:32:00.000-08:00

My husband Paul took some video at our Seattle peace march Saturday, focusing on our bichon Maggie and her new friend Whistler! along with our friends in the Phinney Neighbors for Peace and Justice.

It was a "Slow March!" Central to the Slow life are community, leisure, and joie de vivre. Most people don't expect that you can experience these things at a protest march, but this video shows that that's exactly what you can do. It was not a grim affair, notice all the poochies for peace and smiling faces. There was a lot of hope, even in the face of an unyielding administration.

To my mind this video captures the event better than any of the news stories, with their disinterested (and uninteresting) focus on police control and headcounts. In their efforts to be unbiased or objective or whatever term they want to apply, mainstream journalists also become dessicated stenographers of meaningless factoids, "reporting" but not thinking or actively writing. If they're as bored with their jobs as their dispatches make them appear, they should find a line of work that inspires and invigorates them — and leave real journalism to people who care about the truth, humanity and justice.

Slow Life Slow Food voluntary simplicity Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle Slow Is Beautiful simple living ecovillage phinney ecovillage

Limo'd Schoolkids and the Damage Done

2007-01-30T06:13:00.000-08:00

In a recent New York Times article we learned a little more about how our growing gap between the rich and the rest of us is affecting our way of life. The story told of the children being dropped of at the prestigious 92nd St. Y Nursery school. It’s the same school we heard of a few years ago where “in 2002, a government investigation found that Jack B. Grubman, then an analyst with Citigroup, had bragged in an e-mail message that his boss, Sanford I. Weill, had helped get his twins into the Y’s nursery school after Mr. Grubman upgraded his rating on a stock as a favor to Mr. Weill. Meanwhile, Mr. Weill arranged for Citigroup to donate $1 million to the 92nd Street Y.”

In the current story, kids are dropped off at the school by “hired drivers” (otherwise known as chauffeurs). Apparently this “driver” experience has become a real game about who is more important and who has more money.

The letters to the editor the next few days, had some astute comments. As one said: “These parents scramble to give their kids the best opportunities and the most protected environment, yet with one-upmanship, they teach their children the value of image, class consciousness and materialism. These are not the traits necessary to get us through the challenges of the 21st century. What about compassion, honesty, humility, selflessness and curiosity about th world around them?”

It’s interesting to realize again that children learn from their parents. When they see their parents so concerned about success and status, they learn that these are the things to pursue. Happiness research shows that when people pursue status, they become more narcississtic which, in turn, undermines their social abilities. And it is social abilitities, the talent for making friends and connecting with others that brings people the most well being in life.

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What Martin Luther King's Legacy Means for Slow Life

2007-01-28T23:19:00.000-08:00

Here in the Phinney Ecovillage in Seattle, our January Global Warming Meeting fell on Martin Luther King Day. So we explored the strategies that made the civil rights movement successful, asking which strategies would work today. What we remembered from the civil rights movement was its visionary and vital aspects. It was positive, even though there was so much suffering. As someone noted, Martin Luther King said, “I have a dream!” He didn’t say, “I have a complaint.”

What seemed to emerge from our conversation, over and over again, was: We need to make this movement exciting, joyful, and inspirational. The planet may be heating up, but we in America seem to be freezing over. Many of us feel that our jobs are a drag and that we’re too exhausted to do anything else at night. What we need is joyful community. People coming together for social change and at the same time spending time laughing and singing and dancing.

We concluded we need a Climate Change festival/party/carnival where we can generate hope and happiness. That, of course, is at the heart of “the slow is beautiful” life. In the “slow” movement we’re not just trying to change for our own interests, although that’s certainly part of it; we’re trying to bring about a major social change for the well being of people and the planet.

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How to Combat American Fascism (re Chris Hedges)

2007-01-28T23:10:00.000-08:00

Chris Hedges, in his new book American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, shows how the lack of community drives people into the fascism of the Christian Right. The question I ask, in Slow is Beautiful, is “What can we on the left do about it?”
We need to create community that will attract others. We’re often so focused on our agenda, getting our ideas across, that we ignore the person. In fact, we can make people who approach us feel even worse because we refer to people who don’t agree with us as idiots. How many times do we hear people on the left talk about the stupidity of the American people!
This kind of arrogance scares people! These are not words that make people feel welcome! Then, if anyone ventures into one of our meetings, they’re often ignored or attacked if their views aren’t “politically correct.”
And finally, our focus is almost always on doom and gloom. Where is our laughter and enjoyment of each other? One thing we know from Martin Luther King’s legacy is that music and caring are central to a movement.
So it looks to me like the best way to fight the right is to find ways of enjoying ourselves as we work for social justice and environmental issues. As people become disillusioned with the Christian Right, there will be a place for them.
Hopefully Slow is Beautiful helps with this.

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Thanks to Heidi Hansen for the mention

2007-01-28T22:57:00.000-08:00

Heidi Hansen recommends my book, thank you!

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New York Times' Bob Herbert: Everyone should be a part-time politician

2007-01-25T20:07:00.000-08:00

In his New York Times column this morning (also available here if you lack a NY Times subscription), Bob Herbert says that it looks like we can hope for little action at the top. Everyone is just playing it safe. Our only hope, he says, is the citizens taking action. We’ve done it before: the labor movement, the civil rights movement, the women’s movement, and on and on. We can change things.

He calls for us to turn off our TVs and protest, attend meetings, circulate petitions. Run for office!

He’s talking about practicing democracy, of course. But he’s also talking about building community. At its heart, democracy is community, because it’s people coming together for the common good.

And it’s so much more exciting and fulfilling than TV or shopping! Every time you stop to talk to someone, you’re not only building community, you’re practicing democracy, for John Dewey said, “Democracy is born in conversation.”

What was so inspiring about the column was his final quote from Eisenhower, who said in 1954: “Politics ought to be the part-time profession of every citizen who would protect the rights and privileges of free people and who would preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage.”

This is why those of us in the Take Back Your Time movement feel so strongly that we must work for shorter work time policies to do something to counteract our sickness of overwork and time poverty. Democracy takes time!

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Amory Lovins: Eco-genius is 'Mr. Green' and also 'Mr. Slow'

2007-01-25T13:14:00.000-08:00

My husband Paul posted an analysis of a recent article on Amory Lovins, called 'Mr. Green' in The New Yorker. Below is the post, but I wanted to add that Lovins also deserves a commendation as 'Mr. Slow,' from his departing comments in the article.

One of the main points of my book Slow Is Beautiful has to do with changing our view of materialism, and how money and wealth accumulation and international travel and SUVs, etc etc are so closely tied into our self-images, into status and validation of us as Americans and human beings, yet ultimately are as unsatisfying as the next fix for a junkie. Lovins accurately questions whether materialism is really satisfying our needs as human beings. It's wonderful to see this connection being made from an ecological point of view (in the simplicity and slow life movements we've been making it for some time, of course). The green (enviro, eco) community has tended to focus on enviromental degradation as a development and greed issue without asking why so much of humanity buys into destroying the planet.

Here's Paul's post:

There's an intriguing piece in the Jan. 22, 2007 New Yorker magazine by Elizabeth Kolbert (whose book "Field Notes from a Catastrophe" helped reshape the conversation on global warming science) on eco-genius Amory Lovins that deserves comment on several levels. First, it is journalism at its finest, a balanced, informative, sensitive, fair and challenging treatment that anticipates reader questions and answers them as best the format will allow. It shows that great journalism is a powerful venue, and is still possible in a culture where journalistic best practices are for most part ignored and violated.

It is also an insightful look at global warming, an issue which generally has been a poster child for over-the-counter journalism's great failings. In story after story demonstrating global climate change, media typically do not even mention climate change itself. Each disaster is treated as an isolated occurrence, with no attempt to show how it fits into overall climate changes, other incidents like it, and trends in weather or climate episodes. I've harped on this since last April, and Paul Loeb recently noted how media seem totally clueless when it comes to incorporating a global warming sensibility into weather, storm and related coverage.

The huge drawback with the New Yorker piece is, of course, The New Yorker typically does not post online. You have to read the story in print. You can't even buy it online. One of the reasons I still subscribe to The New Yorker is that I cannot read it online (it's about the only print journalism I do subscribe to, besides The New York Times, and the latter is shaky at this point). The other reason is that, as a lifelong journalist myself, I like paying for really great journalism. If The New Yorker gave me the option to pay for an online subscription, even if it cost more than print, I would do so. It's just that good.

All that said, the Lovins piece is worth tracking down at your library or dentist's office or whatever. Some excerpts follow, and note particularly the final point, because it really encapsulates the entire conflict over our future. We cannot on the one hand want to save the planet and on the other want to continue driving SUVs and flying to Bali, Mexico, Spain and Australia several times a year. We really need to examine what needs an SUV and international travel are addressing for us, and ask: Would not we be better served by satisfying those needs non-materially? (This by the way is the whole point of my wife Cecile's book, "Slow Is Beautiful.")

...perusing a report put out by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, Lovins came upon a misprint: someone had typed an 'n' for an 'm' in the word 'megawatt.' He coined another new term: 'negawatt.' A negawatt is a watt of electricity that does not have to be generated because an energy-saving measure has obviated the need for it. By replacing a 75w incandescent light bulb with a 14w compact fluorescent bulb, an individual can, for example, produce 61 negawatts.

...According to Lovins, by swtiching to ultra-light vehicles (including airplanes) and implementing a variety of other 'end-use efficiency' technologies the U.S. could eliminate half of its oil needs. It would eliminate another 20 percent by substituting biofuels for oil, and the last 30 percent by replacing oil with natural gas. (Saving enough natural gas to replace a third of the country's oil could be easily accomplished, he maintains, by, among other things, reducing electricity consumption.) The cost of eliminating oil use entirely would, by his calculations, come to half of what, by official forecasts, would be spent on purchasing it. Meanwhile, the U.S.'s CO2 emissions would drop by 25 percent.

...I asked Lovins how his plan to save the world through energy efficiency could accommodate the open-ended nature of human desire. If, as he claims, conservation is profitable, what was to stop the profits from going straight toward more consumption?

'It doesn't automatically prevent that,' he said. But, he added, 'you might plow the money back into more efficiency rather than more powerboats and helicopter skiing. After all, you don't rewash your clean clothes in the cheaper-to-run washing machine, because your clothes are already clean. At some point, I think you get jaded by continuous trips to Bali.

'Your neighbors might point out that what you're doing is increasingly antidsocial,' he continued. 'On a moral or spiritual level, at some point you may discover you're not all that happy having more stuff or more travel. Trying to meet nonmaterial needs by material means is stupid and futile. Every faith tradition that I know decries materialism.'

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Little Miss Sunshine and the Slow Life's values

2007-01-25T00:22:00.000-08:00

I was pleased to see that Little Miss Sunshine has been nominated for best picture for the Oscars. It certainly carries the “slow” theme -- it’s a questioning of “success” as we’ve come to think of it. Being a winner of some sort, any sort. The dad wants to be a winner at the “motivational speakers” game and the daughter wants to win a beauty pageant. As the son says when he realizes that his dream of success is impossible, “Life is just a series of beauty pageants.” Yes indeed. We’re judged all of the time and almost always for putting on a false front, pretending that we’re something that we’re not. We’re always on show, always being judged by our appearances, rarely getting to be ourselves.

Little Miss Sunshine is in the tradition of two of my other favorite movies: Zorba the Greek and Harold and Maude. They’re all about “the great escape,” about narrowly missing getting what you thought you wanted, and finding that “failure” was better. They’re all about seeing through the conventional culture and coming to embrace the “counter” culture that rejects success as measured in wealth or status. In each movie there is a disturbing character that makes the main character question the status quo. For the young Englishman, it’s obviously Zorba. For Harold, it’s Maude. For the family of Little Miss Sunshine, it’s the outrageous grandfather played by Alan Arkin. In each one, there is a triumphant escape from becoming a success in the traditional sense.

But even though I really loved Little Miss Sunshine, I don’t think it can measure up to the other two. They each had a vision of life that involved a sense of something sublime and wonderful. Not so for Little Miss Sunshine. I think it’s a measure that our sense of what is possible in life has been diminished. However, maybe Little Miss Sunshine has something the others don’t. It affirms that the most important thing is your relationships. In the end only this movie has that theme.

It’s a wonderful movie and one we should remember when we begin to yearn for the “success” that we’ve been conditioned to want.

Marge Piercy poem: Each Day, One More

2007-01-23T14:57:00.000-08:00

What can they do
to you? Whatever they want.
They can set you up, they can
bust you, they can break
your fingers, they can
burn your brain with electricity,
blur you with drugs till you
can't walk, can't remember, they can
take your child, wall up
your lover. They can do anything
you can't stop them
from doing. How can you stop
them? Alone, you can fight,
you can refuse, you can
take what revenge you can
but they roll over you.
But two people fighting
back to back can cut through
a mob, a snake-dancing file
can break a cordon, an army
can meet an army.

Two people can keep each other
sane, can give support, conviction,
love, massage, hope, sex.
Three people are a delegation,
a committee, a wedge. With four
you can play bridge and start
an organization. With six
you can rent a whole house,
eat pie for dinner with no
seconds, and hold a fund raising party.
A dozen make a demonstration.
A hundred fill a hall.
A thousand have solidarity and your own newsletter;
ten thousand, power and your own paper;
a hundred thousand, your own media;
ten million, your own country.

It goes on one at a time,
it starts when you care
to act, it starts when you do
it again after they said no,
it starts when you say We
and know who you mean, and each
day you mean one more.

From The Moon Is Always Female, by Marge Piercy
Copyright 1980 by Marge Piercy

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Slow Life with Bichon

2007-01-16T19:23:00.000-08:00

Today our bichon frise Maggie, who earned a "best supporting petress" award in my book Slow Is Beautiful, led us on a placid stroll around the University of Washington's Horticultural Center.

Now she's a star on YouTube!

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A Somber Reminder: Life Is Precious

2007-01-15T07:03:00.000-08:00

Deborah Schneider, public programming director of the King County Library System (who has set up talks for me at libraries) sent along this note on Slow Is Beautiful:

On Nov. 6th, my 24 year old son Garth was hospitalized. He had chronic kidney disease and underwent two kidney transplants, so he was often in the hospital. I carried your book with me when I went to visit, and he asked me to read from it. After I read several chapters -- we would discuss the ideas. He was of the opinion, probably because of all the health issues he faced, that people were rushing through their lives and never taking the time to truly enjoy experiences, time with friends and family and simple joy in the small daily pleasures of living.

Sadly, he developed several infections, and on November 24th, he passed away.

I appreciate that the last book we read together was one about finding more joy, because he lived a life of passionate discovery, delighting in his photography, enjoying time spent with friends, and teaching everyone he came into contact with about the true meaning of life.

I want to thank you for making the precious last days we spent together more meaningful.

Deborah later added in a note to me:

His favorite saying was: “Don’t sweat the small stuff, and it’s all small stuff”.

I was told my a friend who is a Native American Shaman that Garth came to teach us, and I hope the thing that people learn from his example is that every single day is precious, and you should do anything you need to be happy.

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GreenFestival Radio has posted my talk

2007-01-15T06:54:00.000-08:00

My talk at GreenFest last November in San Francisco is available to listen to here. Click on "Launch Greenfestival Radio" button and then scroll down to my talk under Cecile Andrews (it's No. 10). You can also purchase a CD with my talk from the site (click on the "Purchase Green Festival Speakers on Audio CD" line below the "Launch" button).

The talk is about the slow life, Slow Is Beautiful, and simplicity.

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KEXP Podcast "Mind Over Matters"

2007-01-15T06:36:00.000-08:00

I'm featured in a podcast by KEXP's Diane Horn. Click here and then click on "Podcasting" icon. Then scroll down to "Mind Over Matters Sustainability Segment." I'm the current podcast but once I move you'll be able to access it under "Previous Episodes." That will give you options to listen.

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Wal-Mart's Evil Plan to Put Employees on Call

2007-01-15T06:16:00.000-08:00

Happiness research shows that it is important for people to have control over their lives, and I spend considerable space in Slow Is Beautiful getting at the true nature of happiness (hint: it's not making more money!).

Yet getting control over your life is not only hard in the corporate consumer culture that uses every waking moment to try to sell you stuff you don't need, now corporations may be robbing you of the very ability to control your existence.

Take this new Wal-Mart idea: Wal-Mart's software allows it to schedule people to work when the crowds are there and cut back when the store is slow. "

But while the new systems are expected to benefit both retailers and customers, some experts say they can saddle workers with unpredictable schedules. In some cases, they may be asked to be "on call" to meet customer surges, or sent home because of a lull, resulting in less pay.

The new systems also alert managers when a worker is approaching full-time status or overtime, which would require higher wages and benefits, so they can scale back that person's schedule.That means workers may not know when or if they will need a babysitter or whether they will work enough hours to pay that month's bills. Rather than work three eight-hour days, someone might now be plugged into six four-hour days, mornings one week and evenings the next.Some analysts say the new systems will result in more irregular part-time work.

"The whole point is workers were a fixed cost, now they're a variable cost. Is it good for workers? Probably not," says Kenneth Dalto, a management consultant in Farmington Hills, Mich. ..."

Another evil idea from Wal-Mart, and guess what: The stock went up!

Full story from the Los Angeles Times:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the largest private U.S. employer, is rolling out software that will allow the company to schedule workers based on the number of customers in stores.

Wal-Mart began testing the software last year and plans to install it in all U.S. stores sometime next year, spokeswoman Sarah Clark said Wednesday. All cashiers and customer service employees already use the system, she said.

The software assigns employees based on customer traffic rather than on a store's sales, as was the case in the past, allowing the company to meet demand at peak times.

Groups such as Wake-Up Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart Watch, which have lobbied the company to raise pay and benefits, have criticized the new method, saying it subjects workers to potentially fewer hours.

"Retailers as a whole are embracing technology," said Rick Rubin, an analyst at Mercantile Bankshares Corp. in Baltimore. "It's probably the right decision from a customer-service standpoint. It may not make employees all that happy."

Clark said enough employees such as senior citizens and students were available to work late and weekend hours.

"The company has not asked any associate to change their availability as a result of this system," she said. About three-quarters of Wal-Mart's 1.3 million U.S. workers are full-time, Clark said.

Robert Angelo, director of the Rutgers Union Leadership Academy, part of the university's School of Management and Labor Relations in New Brunswick, N.J., said he questioned whether Wal-Mart's changes would benefit workers, "given their track record."

"In some cases, flexible hours means less hours," he said.

Improving customer service isn't just about adding workers at busy times, Angelo said. It's also means ensuring that people are working productively.

"This is one piece of a deliberate effort to cut benefit costs through more part-time employees," said Nu Wexler, communications director at Wal-Mart Watch, which is a Washington-based coalition of labor, religious, community and environmental groups. The rollout was previously reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Shares of Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart rose $1.37, or 3%, to $47.55.

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Worldchanging Interview with Kevin Danaher

2007-01-15T05:55:00.000-08:00

I am a big fan of the co-founder of Global Exchange and spoke on a panel with Kevin Danaher at Greenfest last November in San Francisco.

Here's an interview with Kevin from Worldchanging.

Waiting for Your Soul to Catch up

2007-01-14T09:17:00.000-08:00

"A white explorer in Africa, anxious to press ahead with his journey, paid his porters for a series of forced marches. But they, almost within reach of their destination, set down their bundles and refused to budge. No amount of extra payment would convince them otherwise. They said they had to wait for their souls to catch up."

-- Bruce Chatwin [Wikipedia entry here.]

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Links from the Ether

2007-01-14T08:42:00.000-08:00

From somewhere across the Ether a blogger in Biarritz picked up on something I wrote for his signature quote. The photo looks beautiful:

"There are no smells when you watch TV. There is no wind in your face, no sun beating down." And, certainly, no waves crashing on the surf!

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NY Times Bob Herbert: Gap Between RIch and Rest of Us

2007-01-08T10:36:00.000-08:00

Readers of my book Slow Is Beautiful know that I like to speak of the growing wealth gap -- not between the rich and the poor but between the rich and the rest of us. It's really about concentrating wealth at the top, and shutting off the mainstream population.

Today's New York Times has a great column by Bob Herbert on just this topic, using the recent "firing" of Home Depot's chief executive Robert Nardelli as a springboard. Herbert notes:

"According to the center’s director, Andrew Sum, the top five Wall Street firms (Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley) were expected to award an estimated $36 billion to $44 billion worth of bonuses to their 173,000 employees, an average of between $208,000 and $254,000, “with the bulk of the gains accruing to the top 1,000 or so highest-paid managers.”

Now consider what’s been happening to the bulk of the American population, the ordinary men and women who have to work for a living somewhere below the stratosphere of the top corporate executives. Between 2000 and 2006, labor productivity in the nonfarm sector of the economy rose by an impressive 18 percent. But workers were not paid for that impressive effort. During that period, according to Mr. Sum, the inflation-adjusted weekly wages of workers increased by just 1 percent.

That’s $3.20 a week. As Mr. Sum wryly observed, that won’t even buy you a six-pack of Bud Light. Joe Six-Pack has been downsized. Three bucks ain’t what it used to be."

Eventually of course the gap catches up with the filthy rich and the French Revolution happens in yet another iteration all over again. As Herbert puts it:

"There’s a reason why the power elite get bent out of shape at the merest mention of a class conflict in the U.S. The fear is that the cringing majority that has taken it on the chin for so long will wise up and begin to fight back."

Or as my friend Jeff Wilkes likes to say, "Sooner or later the peasants show up with pitchforks and torches."

Katrina vanden Heuvel editorial in The Nation

2007-01-03T12:30:00.000-08:00

Is Time on our side? Katrina vanden Heuvel asks in The Nation. Here's my response:

Time is indeed a political issue, as Katrina vanden Heuvel asserts. The reason our lives are so frenetic is directly related to the growing gap between the rich and the rest of us. As the wealth gap grows people come to believe that their happiness and self worth is measured by their status and increasingly, everyone is in a race to be a “winner.”

As people compete for more money and prestige they have little time left for the things that matter, in particular caring and community. Happiness research shows that after a certain point, more money is not related to happiness. What brings happiness is supportive relationships with others. In our corporate consumer society everyone becomes your adversary and trust and concern for the common good declines.

We need policies that create a strong, large middle class, with a smaller wealth gap between the top and the bottom. But since people believe, mistakenly, that being rich will make them happy and eighty percent believe, again mistakenly, that if they work hard enough they can be rich, no one resists the tax cuts for the wealth. Everyone thinks that someday they’ll be rich and so they accept the tax cuts.

We need change on all levels. We need new policies that reduce the wealth gap and new policies that guarantee adequate leave, both vacation and sick leave, for all people. But to get the policy makers to respond, our belief system about money and time must change. We need to learn from those old cliches, “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy;” “Money isn’t everything;” and “Life is short.” When we change our belief systems we’ll take action and demand new policies.

Before We Forget Christmas 2006, A Note to Remember

2006-12-27T08:36:00.000-08:00

I've always loved "It's A Wonderful Life," the Frank Capra-Jimmy Stewart movie about values, integrity and humanity that gets played over and over every Christmas.

This year I noticed something new -- and hopeful! -- in references to the movie, however. First, AARP magazine had an interview with Jimmy Hawkins, who played Jimmy Stewart's son in the film. Hawkins had some pointed things to say, including that the movie flopped when it came out and dwelt in obscurity till the 1970s, when "the movie slipped into the public domain and TV stations could show it for free."

This is a key point in today's battle over copyright more or less in perpetuity. Because "It's A Wonderful Life" is not a movie corporations and a Bush/Republican administration would want the American public to see. It and other Capra movies like "You Can't Take It With You" (about greed and, once again, integrity) probably would be consigned to the dustbin of history as worthless idealistic pablum. The same goes for everyone's all-time favorite, Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Story," which Dickens conceived as a broadside against greed and inhumanity and sacrilege.

DIGG featured another angle on "It's A Wonderful Life." In 1947, the FBI filed a memo castigating the movie as Communist propaganda! Its portrayal of the banker as a greedy skinflint was typical of a "common trick" used by Communists to discredit capitalistic virtues, the memo observed.

The point here is that Digital Rights Management in tandem with copyright in perpetuity would have consigned "It's A Wonderful Life" to obscurity forever, and still may if the trends continue. That's why projects like Brewster Kahle's Internet Archive and the efforts of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Creative Commons are so important. There are manifold reasons for creative work to eventually enter public domain, and many of them intertwine with the themes of "It's A Wonderful Life!"

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Creativity, Leisure and the Slow Life: How Disruptive Thinking Happens

2006-12-20T11:26:00.000-08:00

Today's Seattle Times has a great front page carrying translations of a warning about using charcoal grills and gas generators indoors. Our region has been hit by a spate of tragedies, including 12 deaths, from a terrible windstorm that left hundreds of thousands without power. A family of four was found dead from using a generator in their garage. The primary problem may be that warnings on the devices are not translated into enough foreign languages for the terrible danger to be understood.

There's an interesting story behind the front page having to do with leisure, the slow life and creative, disruptive thinking.

What is leisure? Maybe the easiest way to describe it is "time away from work." For some it might be video games, for others a visit to the art museum. Certainly there are huge variations in the level of fullfillment gained from leisure: surely painting a picture is more fulfilling than watching television. (Although there is the same variation in watching television: Watching Masterpiece Theater is a much different experience than watching Bachelor or Elimidate.)

But leisure has been referred to as "the basis of culture" because it is the core of creativity. All the creativity literature asserts that good ideas come when your mind is far away from the details of work.

And so it happened for Seattle Times executive editor Dave Boardman who came up with a breathtaking front page. It came to him, he said, when he woke up at 5 a.m. to go to work. Like a flash. Almost like a religious experience. He saw it in his mind's eye as he showered. In his excitement he started sketching it out in the mist on the shower door.

The night before he had been thinking, as so many of us had, about the tragedy of the families who had lost power and had died from carbon monoxide poisoning because they used their outdoor barbecues and gas generators indoors. He spent the evening writing Christmas Card notes.... it was a calm and peaceful evening, even though in the back of his mind he kept coming back to the families.

The next morning the breakthrough came to him, and he suddenly knew what to do.

Thank you, Dave Boardman!

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Barbara Ehrenreich: Fight for Your Right to Party

2006-12-20T08:55:00.000-08:00

Barbara Ehrenreich: "According to anthropologists, human festivities--probably going back to the Paleolithic era--featured the universal ingredients of feasting, dancing, costuming, masking and/or face painting, for days at a time. These things didn't happen indoors, within the family circle, but around bonfires, in the streets or on the "dancing grounds" of prehistoric civilizations. Holidays bonded whole communities together, not just families."

In my book Slow Is Beautiful I spend a lot of time discussing the concept of joie de vivre, the French phrase for "joy of living." We're supposed to be enjoying our lives! Joy is the energy that drives love, creativity, and gratitude, concepts at the core of happiness. Even seemingly dour Henry David Thoreau said, "Surely joy is the essence of life"! Kay Redfield Jamison, professor at Johns Hopkins and author of Exuberance: The Passion for Life, sees joy and exuberance as "the wine of the gods," and she states boldly that when it begins to disappear from a culture, the culture is dying.

And now, one of my favorite writers, Barbara Ehrenreich, puts it beautifully in her forthcoming book, Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy. She shows that the impetus toward joy is present in every culture and expresses itself in the human festivities of dancing and feasting... that is, until the power imbalance grows and the powerful try to stamp out the "dancing in the streets" for fear it can lead to a revolution! Ehrenreich argues that maybe the best thing we can do for social change is to throw a big party and dance the night away. It's deja joie all over again!

Slow Life Slow Food voluntary simplicity Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle Slow Is Beautiful simple living ecovillage phinney ecovillage

The Battle In Seattle: Slow Before Its Time

2006-12-16T13:05:00.000-08:00

My husband Paul writes about our participation in the anti-WTO "Battle In Seattle" seven years ago. Many of the values of the Slow Life movement were implicit in the parades and protests against oppressive trade policies and globalization of the food supply. Now they're making a movie of the Battle In Seattle and some of our friends were hired as extras. Let's hope they get the movie right: The Battle In Seattle was about saving the world from the ravages of corporate greed, not serving up media images of cops in riot gear and kids choking on tear gas. If the real story gets told, the film may help enlighten the world about the shining truth of a proud moment in the city's history.

Slow Life Slow Food voluntary simplicity Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle Slow Is Beautiful simple living ecovillage phinney ecovillage

When Money Isn't Everything, Wall Street Gets Upset

2006-12-16T12:51:00.000-08:00

New York Times: "Jim Buckmaster, the chief executive of Craigslist, caused lots of head-scratching Thursday as he tried to explain to a bunch of Wall Street types why his company is not interested in “monetizing” his ridiculously popular Web operation. Appearing at the UBS global media conference in New York, Mr. Buckmaster took questions from the bemused audience, which apparently could not get its collective mind around the notion that Craigslist exists to help Web users find jobs, cars, apartments and dates — and not so much to make money."

How refreshing to see an example of money-isn't-everything laid out plainly to the Wall Street greedmeisters. In my book Slow Is Beautiful I spend considerable time showing how everything from ancient philosophy to scientific research shows that after a certain point, having more money does not make you happier. It does not even necessarily make you healthier or more self-assured or anything else we humans naturally want in our short time on earth.

Good for Craig Newmark and his gang for standing up to the powerful forces of wealth accumulation. His momma must have taught him right!

Gap Between RIch and Rest of Us Is Finally Sinking In

2006-12-14T16:55:00.000-08:00

Bloomberg News reports by way of Newscloud (thanks to Jeff Reifman for posting) and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that Americans are waking up to the chasm between the rich and the rest of us. The next step: To understand the gap's impact on health, happiness and safety.

Richest 2 percent hold half world's assets

2006-12-13T12:21:00.000-08:00

Common Dreams: "Personal wealth is distributed so unevenly across the world that the richest two per cent of adults own more than 50 per cent of the world’s assets while the poorest half hold only 1 per cent of wealth."

Understanding the gap between the rich and the rest of us is crucial to understanding why we are unhappy, unhealthy and bent on ecological self-destruction. In Slow Is Beautiful I talk about how the gap is the biggest indicator of the health of a nation. In the 1950s when the gap was smallest in the U.S., we led the world in healthiness. Today, with the gap the widest, we're dead last (pun unintended but acknowledged) among industrialized nations. Our life expectancy also is on the verge of falling. Next time you're in the market or a store, check out the condition of folks around you. Sometimes it seems we're walking around in a hospital emergency ward.

Slowing down is one of the few natural defenses we have against the ravages of consumerism and greed, but it takes conscious planning and persistence to accomplish. Put it on your New Year's Resolution list, in fact, don't even have a list. Just write "Slow Is Beautiful" at the top and look at it every day!

Slow Life Slow Food voluntary simplicity Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle Slow Is Beautiful simple living ecovillage phinney ecovillage

Holiday Consumerism Brings Little Joy

2006-12-13T12:14:00.000-08:00

David Horsey (in Seattle Post-Intelligencer):

"Still, Bothell resident Susan Lamb Virant said consumerism, in moderation, can be a joyous experience, but she added this sobering thought: 'This may be my last Christmas season, as I have terminal cancer. I would never waste this precious time on bargain-shopping mania. Perhaps we all (including those merchants who offer the 'doorbusters') should plan each holiday as though it were our last, remembering why we are celebrating, treating one another with kindness and feeling joy just to be alive and well -- well enough to shop'!"

If there's one lesson to Slow Is Beautiful, it's that we need to treat each moment as though it could be our last. Would you want your final hours to be spent standing in line at a mall?

Slow Life Slow Food voluntary simplicity Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle Slow Is Beautiful simple living ecovillage phinney ecovillage

'Tis the Season to be Stressed Out!

2006-12-13T12:08:00.000-08:00

Leslie Goldman: "In the past week, I have found myself either on the verge of tears or simply overflowing with them for reasons ranging from a pregnant friend who gave birth to a lovely little girl to waiting in line at the slowest line ever to purchase a frigging package of batteries to thinking about a friend of my family who is dying far too young from cancer to - get this -welling up at the end of afootball movie on an airplane when the underdog scored the winning touchdown. (That last one made my husband cry - it's taken him a decade to teach me what a down even is.)"

Tip for slow is beautiful holiday shopping: Buy local. Stroll through your neighborhood shopping district and pick up presents as you stop 'n chat! It's a great way to take care of the seasonal obligations while enjoying yourself and others!

Slow Life Slow Food voluntary simplicity Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle Slow Is Beautiful simple living ecovillage phinney ecovillage

One Way to Slow Down: Move to Kansas!

2006-12-13T12:04:00.000-08:00

A report that more people are leaving California than coming in.

In Slow Is Beautiful I start the book with an anecdote about a woman experiencing road rage. The above story talks about a guy who found himself sitting in traffic "screaming at people" deciding enough was enough. Time to move to Kansas and "never look back."

Slow Life Slow Food voluntary simplicity Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle Slow Is Beautiful simple living ecovillage phinney ecovillage

Slow Is Beautiful: Lexicon and Meme

2006-12-12T11:35:00.000-08:00

The New York Times Science section lead article today is called "Slow Is Beautiful" in print editions. Intriguingly the phrase does not show up on the Times Web site, however.

No doubt they're worried SlowIsBeautiful.com will sue for copyright infringement. But hey, we don't do that in the "slow culture," it's against our values!

Slow Life Slow Food voluntary simplicity Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle Slow Is Beautiful simple living ecovillage phinney ecovillage

Slow Is Beautiful: The Ugly Side of Multitasking

2006-12-11T13:58:00.000-08:00

This funny story from The Seattle Times about doing goofy things while driving has a serious undercast. As I've emphasized in my talks, such multitasking is not only dangerous (the story followed a serious traffic accident caused by someone typing on their Blackberry) but robs us of the pleasures of doing something for its own sake, and doing it well.

The story I use in my talks involves a couple of points: One woman told me her daughter could change her entire outfit while driving, including pantyhose. And a German woman once came up to me after my talk and said, "You know what the difference between your culture and mine is? In Europe we order a latte and spend a couple of hours talking with friends in a cafe. But in America, you use it for fuel!" In the Netherlands an American ordered a latte "to go" and they didn't know what she meant. "We make it right here," she was told.

And on and on. The point being that in this country, we're doing so many things at once we have no ability to appreciate the moment. It's like we've rephrased the homily about stopping to smell the roses. Sure, take time to smell the roses...while text messaging on your Blackberry, drinking a latte and driving on the freeway hellbent to your next appointment!

Can Los Angeles Get Slow?

2006-12-08T15:50:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful time in L.A. staying with our friends in Sherman Oaks and giving talks at Vroman's Bookstore, the Bodhi Tree Bookstore and the Los Angeles Ecovillage. Now L.A. is not the first place you're going to think "eco," but the Ecovillage there is for real and may represent one of a kind. You're not going to find too many intentional communities in the heart of a teeming, speeding, freeway-jammed megalopolis like L.A. Nevertheless it's strikingly impressive what the LAEV has been able to accomplish in reclaiming land, water and public space.

Vroman's had a great lively audience with lots of comments and questions. I've given several talks there over the years and always come away with a wonderful feeling. It deserves its reputation as one of L.A.'s leading bookstores. If you're in Pasadena be sure to stop by. As up to date and "well-groomed" as Vroman's is, it still retains the bookish, library atmosphere of old-school bookstores we grew up with.

I had never been to the Bodhi Tree in West Hollywood before, but it apparently has an avid following. The place was bustling with all kinds of readers, from UCLA students to old New Age types (if that's not a contradiction). My reading was introduced by Carol Holst of the Simple Living America project, which sponsored the Leavenworth WA conference in November that I blogged about earlier. A good group, with much discussion after my talk.

My visit to the LA Ecovillage was a real revelation. I've always said that the Phinney Ecovillage I founded a few years ago in my north Seattle neighborhood was an "ecovillage lite," in the sense that it was an unintentional community based on the happenstance of location rather than a philosophical matrix.

Well, the LA Ecovillage is walking the talk. The village itself has about 35 residents, about half of whom are actively "intentional." In a 2-hour tour, leader Lois Arkin (Alan Arkin's sister) showed us a stormwater-filtering Eco Park, a rabbit run, dozens of tree plantings, a garden, a composting-soil project, a stormwater catch-basin (natural ground built up around 3 feet to absorb runoff) and on and on. Lois and the rest of the Evillagers can be congratulated on how much they've accomplished, even if Lois sometimes sounded as though they've barely made a dent with all the plans and projects still to be done.

The most memorable point of the tour may have been its starting point, in the middle of the street in front of the village. Under a City Repair project, the street is decorated with a colorful circle and various other designs. As Lois began to tell us about the Ecovillage, cars approached and we instinctively began to edge to the side of the street.

"Oh no," Lois said firmly. "We don't move for traffic here." She went on to explain that blocking cars is part of "retraining" traffic to slow down and go around. People use the street as a shortcut, and during rush hour "there's a lot of retraining to be done," Lois said. Some of the drivers, gesticulating angrily for us to move, also indicated an unwillingness to be retrained. But a surprising number just glided around us.

I'd never heard of traffic retraining before, but it sounds like an integral part of any slow lifestyle philosophy. Maybe we could learn from the yellow magnetic-sticker movement by cyclists who've been passed too closely by motorists. We could just make a sticker saying "Slow Is Beautiful" and slap it on cars as they drive by!

We left L.A. once again reminded of SoCal's central contradiction. As fast-paced, smoggy and hellish L.A. can be, some of the world's most interesting people live there. We even had the treat of arriving right after a storm and seeing the place through clear air. It's impressively green and beautiful when visible!

Slow Life Slow Food voluntary simplicity Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle Slow Is Beautiful simple living ecovillage phinney ecovillage

A Slow Day in Berkeley

2006-11-26T12:56:00.000-08:00

We had a magical day on Friday in Berkeley. First we went to Solano Street and strolled around neighborhoods there with Maggie. We happened across a neighborhood kiosk, the Dario Meniketti Memorial public information kiosk at Solano and Curtis, with a number of announcements, flyers, and other local info posted. Neighborhoods and community expert Jim Diers, former head of the city of Seattle's office of neighborhoods, cites kiosks as the root pillar of community-building efforts at the street level. One of our goals for the Phinney Ecovillage is to try to implement a series of kiosks along Phinney and Greenwood Avenues in Seattle.

At the invitation of Sylvia Paull we then attended her Last Friday Ladies Lunch (men are invited too, so Paul came along) at Renee's Place, a wonderful and unique organic Chinese restaurant at 1477 Solano. The lunch filled three whole tables, which normally would create a bit of a logistics crunch. But Sylvia managed to arrange seating in a mathematically efficient contiguous way so everyone could see and hear everyone else. Sylvia is a master of the small but crucial detail, and her lunch could be a model of organizational efficiency. We ordered off a one-sheet menu, we could choose three items within a wide choice for each category (appetizer, entree and side), all for $10 a head. The streamlined decision-making meant more time to get acquainted and talk instead of fussing over food selection, bills and tips.

Sylvia graciously allowed me a few minutes to talk about Slow Is Beautiful, but I was just as interested to meet her friends and hear their stories. Many were writers with fascinating projects of their own, and several were involved in some community-enhancing effort or undertaking. Thanks, Sylvia, for the great visit!

Sylvia ended promptly at 1 p.m., which allowed those with tight schedules to leave but for others to talk one-on-one or in small groups. We chatted and exchanged emails with several new acquaintances, then hopped back in the car for a short drive to Dave Winer's breathtaking new house (new for him, but grand old Berkeley). Dave has really settled in, and Maggie loved his RSS couch (co-called because it's the same orange as the symbol for RSS, one of a multitude of Web technologies Dave has created and/or helped popularize)! He also has a wireless network over which he can play audio from his MacBook to speakers via to an Apple Airport Extreme modem.

Dave was demo'ing the network when he asked if I wanted to do a podcast on the book! I barely know what a podcast is, but it seemed like a great idea. Dave used the built-in MacBook microphone, which picked up our voices fine in his living room, and a small piece of audio software to do recording. He then loaded the podcast onto iTunes for playback. Dave made the whole thing seem so simple I'm going to try to do more podcasts. Thank you Dave!

Our talk is here.

After visiting Dave we took Maggie for a walk along College Avenue, then mosied over to Cedar Street to visit Berkeley's historic Hillside Club. Founded in the late 1800s and built a century ago, the club has endured earthquakes and fires but was foundering from lack of new blood till high-tech impresario Jeff Ubois discovered it on a stroll through his neighborhood four years ago. Today Jeff is president and Sylvia vp, membership is thriving and the calendar is filling up more all the time. They have movies, fireside meetings, salons, arts & crafts fairs and film circles.

Darkness had fallen by the time we got over to the club and it looked like they were closing down, but we skittered over and who should be there but Sylvia, getting reading to ride her bike home, and Jeff! We got the grand tour and thumbnail history. What a great community resource!

After the club tour, we hopped on over to the Berkeley Cohousing community on Sacramento Street for a potluck getogether at the invitation of Raines Cohen. The potluck was in the spacious main meeting area. I gave a presentation on the book and we had a stimulating discussion among a diverse group ranging from a woman who works with Fritjof Capra to a former high-tech entrepreneur who gave it all up for the slow life. After our discussion Raines and his partner Betsy Morris gave us a tour of their unit, which has the most-photographed deck of any cohousing complex, Raines said with a laugh. Thanks to Raines and Betsy for making the evening so enchanting!

It had been a long day, but a "slow" one — in Berkeley there is so much going on at the micro level, so many great people full of new ideas and the energy to implement them, you can't help but leave the place feeling stoked about new possibilities. Even though we packed a lot of new vistas into the day, we were never rushed or frazzled. We're glad to have met so many great people and already are planning our next visit!

Slow Life Slow Food voluntary simplicity Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle Slow Is Beautiful simple living ecovillage phinney ecovillage cohousing podcasting Dave Winer Sylvia Paull Berkeley

Slow In the Heart of Silicon Valley: Kepler's

2006-11-21T09:41:00.000-08:00

Those of you who have read Slow Is Beautiful know that I set the opening scene in Palo Alto with a road-rage incident. So when Kepler's Bookstore hosted my reading recently, a sense of historical irony abounded. About 50 people came out for the reading, and there were many nodding heads as I spoke of life in Silicon Valley and the need to slow down. Anecdotally the locals tell me that, after a post-dot-bomb lull, things are speeding back up. That certainly seems to be the case just walking and driving around. People are in the biggest hurry here of anywhere in the world, it seems.

It's tough being a slowski from Seattle down here. People honk their horns if you don't accelerate from a stoplight like a jackrabbit. And they run you down at intersections when you try to cross the street. But there is hope. People seem tuned into the fact that the rushing around, hellbent consumerist lifestyle of Silicon Valley is patently unhealthy. We talked about a number of strategies to slow down, including crossing things off your to-do list even if you haven't done them. Everyone always relates to that!

One nice thing about visiting the Bay Area is being able to provide "mutual support" to other authors. One of my favorite people on the planet, Peter J. Sussman, has been getting rave reviews for his new book on Jessica Mitford, titled Decca. The New York Times featured it recently and this week it's the BBC's coveted book of the week. The network is running a week-long series of readings from Decca. Here's the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/book_week.shtml

At my reading in Mrs. Dalloway's bookstore in Berkeley, Peter (who lives just down the street) came by and we wound up buying and signing each other's books! Congratulations on all your much deserved success Peter!

I've also continued to talk up Alex Steffen's remarkable new compilation, Worldchanging. Here I am with it outside of Kepler's. One thing about carrying Worldchanging around, it doesn't get missed! Be sure to check it out if you haven't picked up a copy already!

Ashland Reviewed by John Darling

2006-11-20T19:21:00.000-08:00

Catching up a bit: My recent visit to Ashland OR was wonderful! Not only did I have a great audience at Bloomsbury Books, I met some extraordinary people. Heading the list were Bill Kauth and Zoe Alowan, who launched their Oneness Community a few days after my reading. Here's what Bill wrote about the effort:

We are so thrilled to be launching Oneness Communities exactly five years from 11/11/11, a day predicted to be a major transition point in the Mayan Calendar. Recently we went to Mt. Shasta to dedicate ourselves. We said our prayers at an ancient sacred well and were met in an astounding way. An old wolf came out of the woods. ( He was tame, his people followed close behind.) The medicine of the wolf is about the well being of the pack. The power of that wolf’s heart and appearance affirmed for us that we are being called to bring forth a new form of community.

Also in the audience at my reading was John Darling, a writer whose distinct, arresting prose lets you know right from the first sentence that you are reading something unique, pointed and personal. His writeup of my reading ran in the Ashland Daily Tidings and stands as one of the most startling and insightful accounts of my work I've ever read. Have a sample:

"It was one of those love notes from Ashland, which she will give you when you need a lift, a wink, a door to the next level. I'm in one of those dark moods, what the Scots call a scunner, and she drags me out of the house into the rainy night to walk the downtown streets, giving events a chance to stir the pot, and we wander in good old Bloomsbury Books and here are the chairs set up for an author reading..."

Read on here. Thank you Susan (at Bloomsbury), thank you Bill and Zoe, thank you John, and thank you Ashland for the memorable visit!

Visiting Oakland Ecovillage: Slow, Beautiful and Lively

2006-11-19T23:20:00.000-08:00

Last night Paul and I visited the Oakland Ecovillage gathering near Lake Merritt. We were heartily welcomed and felt instantly at home. This is a lively (bordering on rowdy!) group and a great model for any community considering an ecovillage approach.

I've talked before about how the Oakland (formerly Hanover) Ecovillage serves as a model for the Phinney Ecovillage in my north Seattle neighborhood. We're both "unintentional" communities in the sense that we are formed from an existing locale rather than from an intentional community brought together specifically for ecovillage implementation. What we admire most about the Oakland gathering is its informality, and their calendar! On just about any night of the week they've got a video or a board game or a discussion group of some kind going on.

It was a real treat to be able to say a few words about what we're doing in Seattle and learn how the Oakland process works. They had a great turnout and some quick wits in the audience, including Raines Cohen, who was "channeling" the meeting on his Mac Powerbook (aided by the home's wireless network). Any time someone would mention a URL or Web site, it blinked onto Raines' screen as fast as the person could spell it out. I suspect Raines had several of the sites cached, so it wasn't all magic, but the guy is still Merlinesque in his ability to conjure.

Speaking of Raines, he's set up a visit with his Berkeley co-housing group next Friday. We're looking forward to that, too! Thanks so much to Janet Kobren for the invitation to the Oakland Ecovillage, and if anyone ever makes it up to Seattle please let us return the favor!

Slow Life Slow Food voluntary simplicity Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle Slow Is Beautiful simple living ecovillage phinney ecovillage co-housing

Sleeping Lady Pt. 4: Ed Begley, Jr., our "Best In Show"

2006-11-17T22:19:00.000-08:00

I love Ed Begley Jr.! And not just because he was one of my favorites in the movie "Best In Show" (Ed's the hotel manager who talks about the rock group that checked in and "apparently they didn't realize there was a toilet IN the room"). He's also been in other Christopher Guest films, a host of character roles in Hollywood, and had a starring role in the goofily offbeat TV series "Arrested Development." Anyway, Ed is a pioneering environmental activist who tells hilarious stories about Hollywood (on one set the director was scared to tell him they couldn't find an electric station wagon for the scene!) and is just plain funny in between making all-too-serious points about the future of our planet.

Here's Paul's notes from his keynote address (Ed was preceded and introduced, sort of, by Denis Hayes):

Denis is my hero. Through some manipulation or quirk I come up as if I'm the main act, but he's the main act in my book. Since Earth Day in 1970 he's been a guiding light.

My life ain't so simple any more. My trash does not fit in a glove compartment any more. Still simple by Hollywood standards, but I have a wife and kid now. Maybe I need 3 glove compartments, one for each.

I wanna talk about just....slowing...down. If I reach only one person with this notion and that person is me, I'll declare victory and say no more and sit down. We get to rushing around, I know I do, I have to often adhere to that wonderful ancient Chinese proverb: Don't just do something, stand there.

We're more effective if we do that, if we take that time to just slow down and gather our thoughts, recover from all the madness out there and all the work that has to be done. You try to accomplish great things, my friend Richard Stahl in the 1970s went thru something extraordinary. He was a very Type A personality, wanted to save the world, go go go and he'd heard that the Beatles had gone to visit the Maharishi, he thought that was pretty good. He couldn't get to Maharishi by then, he had a publicist, but found a place in Bali, a little river town, found this place with a temple of tranquility and was gonna get enlightenment from this guy. He had flght from LA to Hawaii, several hours layover, another flight to Philippines, then merchant marine vessel to Indonesia, then go to little village in Bali with Temple of Tranquility. He left and there was some problem with air travel and got to Hawaii pretty late, got there within minutes of his connection, but the flight to Philippines left without him, then he missed the merchant marine vessel, took him a week or two to get the next one, got to Indonesia, then monsoon season, couldn't get up river, was a month late. So he gets in jitney, gets in and says to the man, the Temple of Tranquility, and step on it! He started laughing because it was absurd. I always feel like I'm trying to get to the Temple of Tranquility and step on it.

I'm happy I made it tonight, it's not the facts that are true that get you into trouble but facts you think are true. I have to say it's alotta fun on the (Highway) 2 and the 97 if you haven't done it in the rain.

I was going to go back tonight but I'm gonna leave in the morning so I can see where I am maybe. That's the insanity we battle.

In 60s and 70s, you could see San Fernando Valley maybe 20 days, 30 days a year. You could not run to back of room without wheezing. That's a testimony how far we've come. We've cleaned up the air, 4X as many cars, half the ozone. Look at what's possible. Go back to LA Times archives, look at letters to editor. 'If you enact these smog controls, it will be end of Detroit, end of the car industry!' What a shockeroo, businesses didn't go broke, businesses thrived. Many thrived with clean technologies, now we can export to Beijing where they need clean air. So if you ever get depressed and I do on occasion, look at what we've done. Boy have we got a lot of work to do, but look at what we've done.

I started this business [Begley's Best]completely by accident a couple of years ago. Never thought I'd start a business, admired what Paul Newman did, I had a manager, not an agent, but this guy wore me down. Was a great guy and great manager, but he said, you should have a product line, But I wouldn't do endorsements, wouldn't do car commercials. I went to Whole Foods, said I'll prove him wrong, veggie hot dogs, non-toxic spray, so I decided if you want to do a line of Begley's Best, find things really sustainable, then I'll promote them. Then a year goes by and nothing. Then I go into Real Food Daily, a nice restaurant in LA, guy says omigod Ed Begley, I've got something in my car. Non-toxic cleaning product. Another year went by because it's Hollywood. Then I contacted guy, said what's the matter, did my manager ask for too much money or my face on the bottle, what's up? He said no the guy never called me back. So now I've got stuff in my garage, stacking it up and driving around. My distributor was me, the reason the business grew and thrived, not that it's a big thing but it's growing because I drove around in my electric car which cost me nothing to charge. To ship these cases around costs $20 or $30, costs a lot because it's liquid. So my environmental lifestyle proved to be good for business model, grew and grew, now in Whole Foods and other stores. Whole idea is to have sustainable business, good for environment, give to charity: Rainforest Action Network, Coalition for Clean Air, Humane Society, try to focus on environment, people and animal things.

[Ed has given away 1/4 of gross sales, says all profits go to charity but he's not making profit so he gives away revenues. With Paul Newman 5 percent of net sales go to Newman Foundation for distribution to other people. He has exercise bike, creates power, puts into solar battery.]

I simply want to have better place for my kids and grandkids, or just a world by itself. Some semblance of the web of life left. You'd think even the most selfish among us would want to stop this because how many rivets can you lose from an airplane before it stops flying.

Why would you put a flu sufferer in a sauna? Even if all experts are wrong and people are not the cause, why add to it. To continue to go down this path is kind of mad. We need to formulate a different path, embolden each other, assist each other in holding the line.

Before you rush out there tomorrow, make sure you take tomorrow and on regular basis take time for yourself. I feel like I live in an emergency room doing triage, rushing from one crisis to next.

I've always used electric cars. In 1970 it was a Taylor Dunn, a golf cart. In 1990 it was a used electric vehicle, a 1970 Subaru converted to electricity. It ran fine but wouldn't go on the freeway, I put another $2400 into it, and for $4500 had electric car to go on freeway. Associates take old cars, with blown engine, bad radio, no ignition system, heck, tires and windows are all you need. Most important part is how are you gonna charge 'em. Didn't want to use 60 pct coal and fair amount of natural gas, or hydro, nuclear. Didn't wanna do that so put solar on roof.

I drive a hybrid, actually it's my wife's Prius today. But I try to limit my miles, I walk, ride my bike, take public transit. People call me up and say come to an energy-efficiency conference in Dallas. I tell 'em my contribution to energy efficiency is to stay home!

Slow Life Slow Food voluntary simplicity Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle Slow Is Beautiful simple living electric car Ed Begley Jr.

Sleeping Lady, Pt. 3: Harriet Bullitt and Denis Hayes

2006-11-17T09:33:00.000-08:00

Two of the environmental movement's true icons appeared on the same stage together at the Sleeping Lady conference. It was quite a momentous occasion. I introduced Harriett Bullitt as the Godmother of Northwest environmentalism, someone whose good works and philanthropy have shaped our region indelibly and in ways that will be even more fully appreciated as the future unfolds.

Here's Paul's notes from their appearance:

Harriet Bullitt

We're delighted you're using Sleeping Lady as we hoped you would. It's really designed for just this type of conference.

It's the most intimidating challenge to me to be asked to introduce Denis Hayes, whom I've known for a very long time. It's impossible to describe or chronicle what this man has accomplished, in an incredible life that isn't all that long. He isn't old enough to have done all the things he has done, if I could boil it down to a thumbnail sketch, this is a life with a mission that was never abandoned, starting with Stanford in the '60s and travel the world around soul-searching, then law school and abandoning the law for a mission that would become his life's pursuit. His first Earth Day created with Gaylord Nelson the idea of setting aside a day a year to protect and preserve the earth. There are now 170 countries that celebrate Earth Day, and China celebrated Earth Day at turn of century, I was there and saw it happen. Believe me, the Chinese are doing some things better than we are. Their fuel emissions and recycling are better than what we do. They have political power and the influence has been very profound. That and Denis' solar agency for Jimmy Carter, but probably the most important thing is he came to the Bullitt Foundation now 13 years ago, they've been short years but during that time he has led our foundation to heights it never dreamed of seeeing, small groups and big groups focused in NW but with ripple effect throughout the country. Denis threw the stone in the lake that has rippled so widely.

Denis Hayes

I can't say what a thrill it is to be introduced, for such along time it hasn't happened, as somebody who is young.

This is kind of a meeting of the tribe. It's wonderful to be introduced by Harriet who is one of the world's most generous people, one of most gracious, remarkably intelligent and strategic, and deceptively nice. You can misunderestimate her, as our President might say.

It's often good to leave one solid piece of advice, and mine would be if you ever find yourself on the opposite side of an issue from Harriet, just give up. Save yourself a lot of time and energy.

I bumped into Ed Begley, who will speak next, and realized this is a time with a Hollywood actor running for reelection in CA at same time you have a politician, Al Gore, pitching his new movie.

Who'd ever heard of Mark Foley? He's very embarrassed about what he's done and he's going to turn over a new page. There is something about all these people going into rehab giving alcohol a bad time. I'm starting to feel honestly embarrassed that I'm Irish. Then there was the Korean nuclear explosion. Curious Korean emperor, enormously egotistical, has his own TV show, involved in various property developments around Korea, been married 3 times, a world class pompadour. This is what it would be like if Donald Trump got the bomb.

I'm sort of a warmup act tonite for Ed Begley and I'm gonna keep fairly focused because Ed has moved heaven and earth to get here and has to leave at 4 or 5 in the morning to get back. He comes from a land of make believe and he is the most real deal you'll ever find.

My talk is about people and sunbeams, and I can't think of anything more appropriate for today. (Given the cold and rain.)

I want to lay out the case for why something that currently is not taken seriously by anyone in any position of power in the world needs to be considered: direct conversion of sunlight to heat.

There seems to be so much potential for improving the efficiency of everything. Go to Japan and spend a week, everything is just as bit as comfortable except they use half as much energy per capita. All the renewables in the equation.

Even if we put on the brakes right now, and we have no idea how to do that, population is gonna grow 2 billion and probably 3 billion. How aare we gonna make the world meet it's needs?

I'm really interested in the year 2050. You can have serious dispute about how far peak oil can go, 2020, 2030. Nobody believes past 2050.

Sands extraction requires so much more energy, and produces 3X as much greenhouse gases. Same true of oil out of coal.

Nuclear power is getting increasing amounts of attention. A number of responsible parties have come to say nuclear is inevitable and should be embraced. Handful of environmental groups have signed off on that. Here's the truth: Progression of nuclear power inevitably presages progression of nuclear weapons. Not a risk I'm prepared to accept. I'm every bit as afraid of nuclear winter as am of climate catastrophe.

Most countries have gotten nuke weapons thru nuke power. The volumes rapidly become so very great the margin of error in even most tightly monitored system becomes scary.

There is no country more unlikely to produce nuke weapons than Japapn, the reasons being Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Then that little guy with pompadour shoots off bomb, and Japan elects by far most nationalistic emperor since WWII. History books in Japan being rewritten that WWII was a defensive war.

From the time he says go to when Japan has largest nuclear arsenal is about 3 months.

World uses energy at the rate of 16 terawatts. So it will consume 25 terawatts by 2525. In US 98 pct of all rivers are dammed. Hydropower total around world, we'll say 0.8 terawatts. Wind power is enormous, but aggregated figures include all over, places like Everest, which are improbable. Need huge turbines for wind power. I'll be really optimistic to say 2 terawatts. Some say as high as 3. Biofuels limits are different. How much cultivatable land, what are our priorities? Food is ordinarily a fairly high priority. US last year converted more grain to alcohol than food. Grain no future, but we can get cellulose out of forests, fields — but there's only so much land can grow crops on. So depends on how high on food chain we're gonna be eating, will we fill up SUVs while big chunks of the world are starving. How much forests into energy forests, grow trees like bushes and chop them down. Some is taking place, more will take place. 1 terawatt plausible, 2 plausible, paper to fibers again and again recycling, fibers are weak after several recyclings, can throw into energy production. That's a lot of stuff.

Putting aside having places wild, do we want to continue having the Amazon, Antarctica, Africa. Assuming don't turn whole world into an energy plantation, it'd be hard as dickens to get by 4 terawatts. That's a lot, that's comparable to oil today. Some say hopelessly optimistic, unless we do it elsewhere. But that would be doable only once or twice, then the land becomes desert.

Geothermal. If go down deep enough there's a lot of energy but it hasn't been successful. 1 terawatt. People are enthusiastic about waves, but I can't see mechanized up and down, can't see it. Tidal power, maybe 1/3 terawatt.

There's not much left. What's left is sunlight. There we are so richly blesed. Every building has sun. Really high qulaity energy. Research is just finally blossoming, after we walked away from it with Reagan administration, Japan, Chinese picking up. Last year China produced half the solar water heaters in world.

Palo Alto photovoltaic company produces solar at $1 watt, makes it cheaper than half the world's electrcity. Most photovoltaic now $5 watt. The Reagan administration trashed the promising Carter initiative, taking down 2 future Nobel prize winners, making transition that 26 years ago would have been painless now very painful and expensive. But doable.

Slow Life Slow Food voluntary simplicity Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle Slow Is Beautiful simple living Harriet Bullitt Denis Hayes

Sleeping Lady Pt. 2: John de Graaf's Unconventional Wisdom

2006-11-15T09:08:00.000-08:00

John de Graaf gave a wonderful talk packed with unconventional wisdom! John is a writer, editor and filmmaker who put together the seminal film, "Affluenza." Here are Paul's notes from his talk:

"Everybody always thinks you have to have PowerPoint slides with a talk. But a friend of mine said, 'Power corrupts. PowerPoint corrupts absolutely.' So I use a flip chart."

John asked which country is most productive if you gauge efficiency, that is, output per hours worked. Various guesses, but the answer was a surprising one: France. No wonder they have time for the great wine and food! The U.S. always ranks at the top of "productivity" ratings, but that's because statistically we use total output on annual basis. If you measure total output per hour worked, France is No. 1.

In 1970 Europeans worked slightly more hours per year than Americans. But today they work about 80 pct as much, 9 weeks less than the average American. That includes vacations, shorter work weeks and so on. Yet Europeans are still 70 pct as productive on an annual basis, and the actual number is closer to 80 percent when you figure in Americans spending 8 percent more than Euros of their GDP on health care, for worse results!

American health improved since 1970 a little bit. But in 1970 the U.S. was in the middle of developed countries in health. Today WHO puts us at 37th, based on longevity, infant mortality, tests of fitness, chronic illness.

British health contrasted with American health: A study done by British Health Services and National Institutes of Health was shocking: That after 55, Americans are twice as likely to have chronic illness, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease. Poverty-level Brits were as healthy or healthier than rich Americans. Rich Americans are supposed to get good health care. Yet their care is much poorer than rich Brits and about the same as poor Brits.

Why?

Stress? Obesity? No, diet not it. Brits consume more fats, more sugars. Exercise another expected factor, but not it.

More significant: Gap between rich and poor. Class differences. They do contribute.

But the biggest factor is socializing, time spent with others. Americans are increasingly lonely; 1 in 4 have no close friends, majority have at most 2 friends.

Another factor, security: Saving has dropped below zero for first time since 1933. Euros save 11-12 pct. by comparison.

U.S. steadily increased our quality of life to 1973-4. Since then, a steady decline.

Euros have 1/2 the ecological footprint of Americans. In other consumption areas, they consume only 1/2 of what we put out.

John put forth a six-point plan to get back on path:

1. Paid child leave. Only 4 countries don't have: Lesotho, Swaziland, Papua New Guinea and yes, the U.S. Those are the only countries in entire world that don't understand it's important for parents to bond with small children. Lacking parental leave creates more problems with child health, juvenile delinquency. Canadians give 1 full year of paid family leave, 55 percent of salary for either parent.

2. Sick leave. U.S. is only industrial country in world that does not guarantee sick leave. What happens is that Americans go to work sick. They make other people sick. That increases the strain on health care. Americans pay twice as much for health care, $7k per person a year. Despite all that spending, U.S. ranks at very bottom in terms of health. We're just doing things that lead us to be less healthy.

3. Paid vacation. We believe Americans deserve at least 3 weeks paid vacation. In Euro it's 4 weeks base minimum. Americans don't even feel like they can take the vacation they earn. This year 40 percent took 1 week or less vacation, despite the threat of losing earned vacation time if they didn't take it. And then, 25 percent of Americans get no paid vacation.

4. Limits on compulsory overtime. The only state to do it: Maine, 80 hours week maximum. For most industrial countries, the limit is 48 hours. They understand that after 48 it's a hazard to health. You can voluntarily work longer, but it's not compulsory.

5. Parity in hourly salary for part-time workers. Pro-rated benefits and keep health care.

6. Parental support. My new film, The Motherhood Manifesto, brings to light many of the issues. If things change next Tuesday (Paul's note: They did!) there may be action at state and federal level to bring some of these issues to discourse and legislative level.

Barack Obama: I've had chance to work with his staff and talk with him on work-life balance issues and am excited a political leader would say something like this: We live in a culture that discourages empathy...those in power encourage selfish impulses... don't listen to this! Advice: Take risks. Instead of going down the corporate path, Obama took a job helping displaced steelworkers Chicago in the '80s. Don't just go for big bucks. It will leave you unfulfilled.

Each day it seems thousands of Americans are going about daily rounds...coming to realization something is missing. Deciding that work, possessions, diversions, sheer busy-ness are not enough.

We need to give people the opportunity to choose. To live more sustainably, more responsibly, more securely.

Unemployment rates in Europe are constantly raised as a comparison: 9, 10 pct France and Germany. But in many other countries, much lower rates than U.S. We don't take into account 2.1M in our society, way more in our society than others, behind bars. We incarcerate large numbers of our population that in other countries would live on the dole or welfare.

We're told these countries can't be competitive, their economies are failing. I dare anyone to go to Europe and see if people are suffering or deprived. I just returned from 4 weeks. In the Davos forum each year they judge countries in terms of competitiveness, and the U.S. does really well. Last year it ranked No. 2 as competitive economy, which shows you can do it our way, privatize, slash taxes, programs for poor. But the question is, do you have to do that? When you look at Top 10, almost all are Northern European, top 5, most competitive is Finland, with the smallest gap between rich and poor. Sweden, Denmark, Norway, all have good social safety nets and programs. We just need to think differently about all this.

Al Runte asked: You hear from critics of Europe that birth rates are falling precipitously and Euros having to bring in guest workers. Their populations are small, homogeneous, etc. When I talk about the beauty of rail systems in Euro, they say yes but they're about to buy the farm. What do you say?

John: They're way more globalized than we are, they have to make products to sell globally because they don't have big domestic market. On issue of birth rates, this is a complicated one. I hear from Euros it probably will have to change, right now they have a much lower retirement age, in the Netherlands it's common to retire at 55, and I think they understand they may need to work longer, but they are healthier and can work longer, to sustain things.

People say a declining population or lower birth rate will be a disaster because of fewer people to take care of people older than them. What they don't take into account is less pressure on housing, commerce, other things, so prices come down. We need to be smarter about how we study this.

Two stories from Europe:

Staying with professor in Amsterdam who had just interviewed an H-P manager who'd come 2 years earlier to take over the Dutch branch of H-P, and asked do you notice difference between work issues? H-P guy said, yes. Shortly after arriving he'd picked up phone on weekend to get a big shipment out Moday, he'd called secretary, she said excuse me sir I don't work on weeknds and don't expect to be called at home when not working. He told her to compete in global economy, we really need it, and added, we don't appreciate people who aren't team players.

She said OK, but I need to remind you, because of overtime & unscheduled work you need to pay me double time because that's Dutch law. I can do it but I'm a team player, and I know if I call these other people they're gonna be mad at me. So what I'd suggest is you cool your jets, come in Monday morning, we'll get the shipment out Monday morning.

They came in Monday morning, got shipment out. And the H-P guy told me, Now even I have a life. I kinda like it that way.

Story Two: I was in Rome last year, guest of US ambassador to World Health & Food organization there, went out to dinner. Started talking about time:

He said in the 3 years I've been in Rome, the Italians have taught me how to live and how to work. The living part is easy, I go home on time, etc. But that wasn't surprising to me, what was surprising is we get more done at work. Because we know we have limits on our time, we really set priorities and get things done. When the work day was open-ended (in U.S.) we spun our wheels.

Slow Life Slow Food voluntary simplicity Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle Slow Is Beautiful simple living Sleeping Lady

Sleeping Lady conference report, Pt. 1

2006-11-13T16:44:00.000-08:00

Catching up: I'm a bit tardy on this due to all my book-related traveling, but wanted to post my experiences at an engrossing and inspiring conference on Simple Living and the Rekindling of Public Life at the Sleeping Lady resort in Leavenworth WA. It drew people from North Carolina, Los Angeles, Denver, Minnesota and other geographic bases to talk about how public life is being eroded...by lack of time, by corporatization and commercialization, by consumerism and by an insidious usurpation of democracy among American institutions.

Here are some random notes from various presentations. I'll be linking to other postings as well; tech wizard and cohousing guru Raines Cohen was on hand, videotaping and collecting reports from others.

Building Community

I conducted this workshop with about 20 participants.

We started by defining community, thinking of a time when everyone experienced community in their lives. We loved it when we lived in grad student housing at Stanford. People lived close together and shared everything, you could even hear your neighbors through the wall of the apartment! You could always borrow things like a bottle of wine or spice for dinner. The kids could play in a commons area, and there were always impromptu parties and potlucks going on.

I asked everyone in the group to turn to the person next to them and describe an experience that to them defined community.

Paul (my husband) and Stan King talked about bicycling and how being on a bike makes contact with people easier. Stan just finished riding from Olympia WA down to Los Angeles and had a wonderful time connecting with people along the way. There are a lot of homeless and carless folks out there using bikes as transportation, and Stan found instant acceptance and fellowship with them. It was somewhat ironic, because when he'd told people about his plans to ride, they said wasn't he worried about being assaulted or robbed, or hit by a car? Instead Stan found a society unconcerned about People Who Matter, or even being a Person Who Mattered. All that mattered was he was there and accepted immediately as an equal and brethren.

I told the group that for me, the heart of community is being able to be totally yourself. Stan's experience certainly reflected that.

Jef Hall noted that too often, we throw water on somebody's fire. We say, Oh that won't work. Or that can't be done. So people's confidence tends to erode.

I noted how Robert Lane, author of The Loss of Happiness in Market Democracies, talks about a kind of famine of warm relationships. This lack of a support network, or community, makes problems like unemployment, illness, depression, children's issues and so on all the more traumatic.

I asked each participant to say where they live and give a one-word core description of community. Here's the rundown:

Santa Clara, acceptance
Seattle, respect
Ashville, inspired relationships
Ashville, honesty
Ellensburg, encouragement
Ellensburg, sharing
Seattle, respect
Woodinville, trust
Denver, shared values
Los Angeles, intimacy
Mukilteo, engagement and intensity
Yakima, listening
Yakima, warmth and affection
Edmonds, comfort
Seattle, safe debate
Seattle, people feeling safe
Seattle, activism
Seattle, conflict/disagreement

I then had Paul run off the list. None of us are experts but there couldn't be a better definition of community.

I then asked the group to consider barriers to community.

Norm Lee: I think it's fear, news always focuses on negative. We're taught don't trust strangers, that perpetuates itself with negatives in news.

Stan: Technology, often. I rode my bike from Olympia WA to LA, people were asking, How could you do that? Aren't you afraid of being attacked or robbed? Cars tend to encapsulate us and create barriers. When out and about, you make contact. Then there's iPods, computers, garage door openers. Tech can be positive, but we accept too much, and we need to evaluate technology. Tech reviews only discuss the best. Never look at whether we need these things at all. No voice that says community is a good thing.

Travel. It seems like you have to travel around the world these days. But going to Italy or Australia or wherever tends to invalidate your local area. It's like you're not happy here but 3000 miles away you'll be happy. Also a status thing, you're not valuable if you spend your vacation locally. You have to be somewhere else, doing exotic things.

Mobility. People will pick up and move because of job, not asking whether a sense of place is more valuable because of friends and community. A lot of areas are just passing through, like San Francisco.

Note: At this point Harriet Bullitt, owner of Sleeping Lady, dropped in to say hello. She was met with an impromptu, moving thank you.

Maureen Fleishman thanked Harriet for Sleeping Lady: She had come as a child to the compound and it literally saved her life. "I'm almost crying because it means so much to me. I just wanted to say thank you so much, you don't know how much this place means to so many people."

This is one reason Harriet saved Sleeping Lady from condo or mall development. She told the group that this kind of conference and discussion was just what she envisioned in putting together the resort 140 miles east of Seattle. "You're exactly what I had in mind," she said. "I'm happy you're all here and enjoying it so much."

Back on the discussion, I mentioned how the growth of right wing fundamentalists had happened because they lured people in with the promise of community. But it's not the same because community is accepting people no matter what, and there are strings attached to right wing community.

Other barriers to community:

Garages (snout house, pig snout), automatic doors. This tIes in with no patios, no porches.

Look at Portland city repair: Take back public intersections. When groups came in and painted designs on intersections, the city said, What are you doing?! This is public property! So city repair said; Of course! We're the public! Now the city works with them and has created place for homeless out of found materials, let them stay there.

Fear came up several times, the media scaring everybody, older people not willing to go out because of what they see on TV.

Malls: A parent of two teenagers noted the kids go there because there's no other place, especially in winter. As a parent you think it's OK because it's safe.

John de Graaf: What it's like in Europe. Text messaging, iPods, technology is more a concern than time management. Things are not open as long, not because of any religious thing but they understand long hours of employees keep them from gathering. They call working off-hours "unsocial hours."

People walk and bicycle much much more. Transportation systems are amazing, go more places.

John noted how small towns in Europe are very vibrant places, you'll come into a little tiny place but it has lots of amenities. In small town America everything seems boarded up.

So now it came time to talk about solutions.

I talked about the Phinney Ecovillage. We lived in CA and noticed we missed our invisible community of running into people we know, saying hi on the street or at a movie, going into a restaurant and having them know your order before you sit down. I also mentioned Hanover, now Oakland, ecovillage, to build community in an existing neighborhood. They have a calendar on the Internet, with hard copy in restaurants. It's interesting because Oakland Ecovillage has totally relaxed atititude, not all full of committees and regulations. People often ask what's an ecovillage, and it can be a broad range of things (see the What's An Ecovillage? link on our Phinney site).

So we formed Phinney Ecovillage, which we call ecovillage lite. We're all living there anyway, it's not an intentional community, we're here and not gonna move, but can we have benefits of Ecovillage? We formed lots of small groups, started a group on global warming the week after Al Gore's film came out, struck while the iron was hot, and we've got a small neighborhood grant. We're working with a neighborhood independent bookstore, Santoro's Books, to have a discussion group, not like a regular book group where everyone sneers at you and you get revenge by the book you choose. So we gather monthly and talk about what we're reading at Santoro's Subversive Salon.

Our whole goal is community, to talk about our lives. Slowing down for low-carbon living.

We have a group we like to call "Home Alone," meets once a week at lunchtime. It's people who work at home and need a break. We get together at Mae's Cafe. We have such good discussions we renamed it the Phinney Think Tank.

So we've got a Climate Action Now group, a Subversive Salon and a Think Tank. We also get together for movies like, recently, Electile Dysfunction, about voter fraud, and we've shown Harold & Maude and The Castle and other films that tilt at empire-mentality.

What other strategies?

One person mentioned her all-electric car, the ZENN (Zero Emission, No Noise), imported from France by way of Toronto. It's great for the majority of trips you make (10 to 20 miles) in a car. (Later Ed Begley Jr. talked about the electric cars he's had since the 1970s.)

You need a sense of activism. Paul and I talked about our battle against the Woodland Park Zoo parking garage (we're always careful to note it's the garage, not the zoo, that we oppose. We love the Zoo!) Building a parking garage at a time when people are discouraging car-centric, greenhouse-gas facilities. Plus it will lose the city money at a time the mayor is asking taxpayers to pay about the same amount annually to fill potholes.

Norm Lee: Volunteering, giving of yourselves is very important, and you contribute to and help build community at the same time.

In Ellensburg one participant noted they have a weekly Silent Vigil for Peace, which kids have ridiculed as Virgins for Peace. "They don't know V words, so they made fun of us." There have been some negatives, one participant is a psychologist and has lost clients. But the group also gets credit for their persistence and integrity. The local theater wouldn't show Fahrenheit 9/11 because they said no one would come. "So we showed it ourselves and got 180 people out."

It was time to break up and go to lunch, with talks following.

Slow Life Slow Food voluntary simplicity Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle Slow Is Beautiful simple living Sleeping Lady Harriet Bullitt

Reconnecting with the past

2006-11-02T21:02:00.000-08:00

One of the nice things about slowing down — and having a book on the topic for that matter — is that you get to reconnect with people you haven't seen for a while. My talks this week at bookstores and libraries have been a delight in that regard.

At the Bellevue Public Library today, Colleen Patrick came up and said hello. I met her through my husband Paul's media connections way back when, but our paths haven't crossed for some time. It's wonderful to see her new successes and blog, too. Thanks Colleen, best of luck!

Earlier in the week, Lucy Hart showed up at Elliott Bay Bookstore. Lucy's a friend from my days in the Seattle Community College system, where she was a tech and graphics specialist at Seattle Central. Today she's retired but does a lot of visual work; she even had an iPod set up with video clips at my reading. Below are a few photos she sent of the session, thanks Lucy!

Slow Life Slow Food voluntary simplicity Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle Slow Is Beautiful simple living

Hack the publishing system, save yourself money!

2006-11-01T20:58:00.000-08:00

Our friend Alex Steffen over at Worldchanging had the great idea for everyone to buy their new book on Amazon today and tomorrow, in effect "hacking" Amazon's rankings system as well as providing everyone with a great read! So far they're doing great, at No. 13 and counting!

So here's the deal: Buy both Worldchanging and Slow Is Beautiful, and you not only hack the system, you save yourself on shipping charges (a $25 minimum order gets free shipping).

Here's another dollar-saving tip: After you read the books, give them for Christmas presents! Or better yet, keep 'em and order another round for Christmas!

Anyway, you get the idea! Thanks!

Slow Life Slow Food voluntary simplicity Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle Slow Is Beautiful simple living Worldchanging

How the Rich Think and Are Destroying the Planet

2006-10-28T08:11:00.000-07:00

In the University of Washington Daily last Tuesday (Oct. 24) there was a rather benign story on El Nino that ended with an example of how out of touch the wealthy are, and what they really think about global crises.

The article contained a quotation from UW President Mark Emmert, one of the highest-paid academics in the country (for a brief time he was THE highest paid), about the joys of global warming. Commenting on a recent stretch of sunny Northwest weather, Emmert said in his Oct. 11 State of the University address:

"I keep telling people in atmospheric sciences, though, if this is global warming, I'm not sure I'm opposed to it. I even threatened to go buy another SUV."

Another SUV? How many does the guy have?! Emmert received a $100,000 raise recently, bringing his pay package to $718,000, so he could undoubtedly buy a whole fleet of SUVs.

Wouldn't his money be better spent, though, on helping worthy causes, including raising visiblity and concern over climate change? The problem with Emmert's little joke is not just that it's crass and dumb, nor that it isn't even funny. It's that it shows how rich guys really think, and reflects their behind-closed-doors culture of ridiculing society's pressing challenges. Emmert would probably say, Hey, it's just a joke. But the mentality behind the joke is all too serious.

As I put it in Slow Is Beautiful:

"It's the highly educated who are damaging our country. They're the ones destroying the environment, paying people minimum wage, sending us to war. University presidents no longer stand as moral beacons or learned elders — they're hired to be glad-handing fundraisers."

(Note: The UW Daily site is undergoing renovation and I could not find a link to the referenced article. In the print edition the quote appears on p. 7 in the Oct. 24 edition.)

Upcoming "Slow Is Beautiful" events

2006-10-27T08:22:00.000-07:00

Starting with an appearance at Federal Way library tomorrow, I have a week full of library appearances. Thanks to the Seattle Public Library folks for such a great posting. Yesterday I was paired with Lemony Snicket, today it's The Great Gatsby.

Slow Reading Groups Might Be Just What We Need

2006-10-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

In the slow life we’re trying to create lives of less stress and frantic activity. Researchers find that happiness lies in experiencing warm, supportive relationships. Sometimes, when we join book groups, we feel stress and pressure of reading an assigned book. And sometimes the groups can become competitive and too concerned about intellectual status, making relationships tense.

So I recommend a “slow reading group”! Hearing that phrase reminds us how competitive our educational system is — as children we all feared being in the slow reading group! But we need to reclaim the word slow. Rather than connoting stupidity or dullness or laziness, the word slow should call up images of calmness, patience, reflectiveness and conviviality.

In a slow reading group, instead of picking one book, you just come together and talk about what you’re reading! The purpose is to build community with people who like to read — not to impress each other.

So here are a few recommendations:

Keep the group small. It’s only in a group of 6-8 that everyone can participate fully. If there are more, divide into two groups.

When the group is small, you don’t really need a leader, but it’s helpful to have a convener who gets things started.

Don’t just talk about ideas in the abstract. Talk about your personal experience as well. Talk about what you’re learning from your book, how it’s changing your life. This is not a therapy group, but community grows when we get to know each other.

Proceed by going around the circle and talking about your book. Just take four or five minutes and, if you can, try to relate your book to some of the other books. A theme often emerges. After going around the circle once, free conversation will develop.

Always end on time, but have a “slow,” relaxed beginning. People shouldn’t rush to get there on time — we’re trying to learn to slow down! Just talk about the weather and the traffic until everyone arrives.

Have your group in the library, in a cafe, or your own living room. Remember that conversation is at the heart of caring as well as social change. Talking to each other is a radical act!

Take Back Your Time Day: Come Back to the Table!

2006-10-24T09:08:00.000-07:00

Today (Oct. 24) is Take Back Your Time Day, so designated because it's the last day of the year we would work if we worked the same number of days that Europeans and other enlightened societies work. That's right, Americans work 9 weeks longer than much of the rest of the developed world. No wonder we have such terrible stress issues. No wonder our stress causes such poor health, that no amount of pills, surgical procedures or medical strategies can reverse. We're literally working ourselves to death.

Our theme for this year's Take Back Your Time Day is "Come Back to the Table." Gatherings with friends and family are on the decline, and these are chief sources of happiness, fun and relaxation — better than any pills! So have dinner with your family, have a potluck with friends, or invite people over to play cards. Have a discussion in a cafe or drag out the ping pong table. You DO need a table, but those are fairly easy to come by!

And think about how you can reduce your working hours. From Slow Is Beautiful:

"One way to fight the workplace's suasion is to give people opportunities to feel cared for outside of the office. People must have a variety of involvements that contribute to their well-being, particularly to their sense of identity and sense of worth. That's one big reason why we must reduce our workloads. When we put in such long hours, we can't become involved in anthing else."

In Chapter 9, titled "Slow Is Beautiful," I detail a number of strategies for slowing down and taking back your time. Much of this is psychological: Once you begin to focus on how you can slow down, you find your subconscious naturally steering you in the right direction.

For more on Take Back Your Time Day and John de Graaf's work, click here. See also a book I contributed to (which John edited), Take Back Your Time. Click here to order.

Slow Life Slow Food carbon footprint Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle Slow Is Beautiful

Simplicity, Public Life and Slow Is Beautiful

2006-10-22T22:20:00.000-07:00

On Nov. 3-5 I'll be participating in an exciting conference touching on many themes in Slow Is Beautiful, particularly the need for public life and public lands. The conference, "Simple Living and the Rekindling of Public Life: Sustainable Business, Local Community and the Common Good," will be keynoted by the funny and wonderful Ed Begley, Jr., the actor and environmentalist ("Best in Show," "Arrested Development," "A Mighty Wind" and many others), and the magical Wanda Urbanska, co-producer of the PBS series, "Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska."

I'll be leading a couple of workshops, and John de Graaf of the "Take Back Your Time" movement (Take Back Your Time day, remember, is Oct. 24, this Tuesday!), Al Runte, former Seattle mayoral candidate and an expert on public lands, and Denis Hayes, co-founder of Earth Day and a leading member of the Seattle "Green Ribbon Commission" will also be there. It promises to be a stimulating, invigorating and relaxing 3 days among the whispering pines of the beautiful Sleeping Lady resort in Leavenworth WA. If you haven't been to Sleeping Lady, come on over, you'll not be disappointed!

For a full agenda, registration, and other information, click here. Hope to see you there!

The Slow Life on Gabriola Island

2006-10-15T15:47:00.000-07:00

I spent the past three days on Gabriola Island, a short ferry ride from Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. I'd never been to Gabriola but had wanted to since signing up with New Society Publishers for Slow Is Beautiful.

New Society is based on the island, which has one main perimeter road (North Road and South Road, depending on which side of the island), lots of woods and a commanding view from the Arbutus Bluff Bed & Breakfast where we stayed. (We managed to find out from proprietor Liz that "arbutus" is Canadian for madrona tree, and is just as threatened as its American cousin by climate disruption.)

If you really want to get away, Gabriola is the place to be. People are friendly, all seem to know each other, and there's lots of slow food (local, fresh produce), slow moving (many bicycles in evidence) and slow talking. Everyone seems to know each other, too. A talk I gave it was like going to a neighborhood potluck...back in the 1950s, when that's what people in neighborhoods did.

In keeping with its planet-sensitive mission statement, New Society is a model of slow philosophy. Work hours are 9 to 4, and employees get 6 full weeks of vacation! They work out of log cabins (with broadband Internet) surrounded by trees well in from the main road. So you can see why Slow Is Beautiful was such a perfect fit with New Society Publishers!

What's the Slow Life All About?

2006-10-10T23:13:00.000-07:00

Readers of my new book and visitors to this blog can't help but notice how much my bichon frise, Maggie, is featured. That's because Maggie is not only a huge part of my life, but having a pet is a huge part of the Slow Life.

A friend sent along a link that says it all when it comes to animals and living slow. Check it out, you won't be disappointed:

The Story of Skidboot

Slow Life Slow Food carbon footprint Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle Skidboot

Poisoning Ourselves, Poisoning Others

2006-10-08T20:26:00.000-07:00

LA Times: "U.S. Rules Allow the Sale of Products Others Ban."

"As the European Union and other nations have tightened their environmental standards, mostly in the last two years, manufacturers — here and around the world — are selling goods to American consumers that fail to meet other nations' stringent laws for toxic chemicals."

In some ways this could be seen as morbid payback. As I pointed out in "Slow Is Beautiful," U.S. manufacturers for years have sold goods outlawed in this country to nations abroad. From p. 61:

"...U.S. business’s practice of selling tons of medical devices, bad drugs, carcinogens, toxic agents, poisoned foods and other products banned or ousted from American markets. In 1972 400 Iraqis died and 5,000 were hospitalized after consuming wheat and barley coated with an organic mercury fungicide, whose use had been banned in the U.S. Egyptian farmers and more than 1,000 water buffalos died after being exposed to leptophos, a chemical pesticide never approved for domestic use by the Environmental Protection Agency but exported to at least 30 countries. Cancer will strike children from around the world who wore clothes treated with a carcinogenic fire retardant called Tris, forced off the U.S. market after public outcry and a Congressional investigation. A synthetic male hormone, found to stunt the growth of U.S. children, is nonetheless used in Brazil as an appetite stimulant for children. Baby pacifiers and teething rings have been exported to other countries after U.S. bans."

What does this have to do with "slowing down"? There's a DNA linkage between greed and fast. Making money often means beating the next guy to market, or making a decision on financial grounds only, ethics and legality be damned. See more in Chapter 4, "'Fast' and the Consumer Society."

Slow Life Slow Food carbon footprint Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle Skidboot

Thanks to Santoro's Books!

2006-10-07T22:24:00.000-07:00

What a great display! Thank you Carol Santoro for everything!

A reminder that this coming Wednesday, Oct. 11, at 7:30 p.m., Carol will host a book celebration for the monthly Santoro's Subversive Salon discussion series. Come on out, everyone! Santoro's Books is at 7216 Greenwood Ave N, across from Ken's Market. Here's the event link.

Slow Life Slow Food carbon footprint Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle

Worldchanging's New Book Is Out Too!

2006-10-06T07:21:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, Alex Steffen and the gang at Worldchanging here in Seattle have announced the arrival of their new book, Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century. Congratulations to them all! It's an impressive volume, and one that deserves to be read slow!

Slow Life Slow Food carbon footprint Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle Worldchanging

In Japan, City's Motto Is, "Just Don't Do It"

2006-10-05T07:05:00.000-07:00

This Wall Street Journal article describes Morioka, Japan's "Slow Life" strategy:

"We don't make an effort in Iwate," (Gov. Hiroya) Masuda declared in a nationwide ad campaign that has run annually since 2001. Iwate should build traditional wooden houses rather than modern buildings, he said. Instead of striving like the big cities for economic growth, people should take pride in their forests.

From Slow Is Beautiful, pp. 44-45:

"The Japanese have a life expectancy of 80 years — three and a half years longer than in the U.S. In epidemiological terms, this is an enormous gap. If Americans stopped dying from heart disease tomorrow, life expectancy in the U.S. would jump only to levels the Japanese have already achieved."

Ironically, the Morioka campaign came in reaction to the "too fast" lifestyle of Tokyo. But the Japanese have gone from 23rd in longevity (among developed nations) in 1960 to No. 1 today, primarily because they have narrowed the gap between the rich and the rest of society.

Here in Seattle, we have a Mayor who is simultaneously promising to reduce greenhouse gases while promoting a huge, financially ruinous downtown tunnel and an expensive, unneeded, unwanted, unecological parking garage at the Woodland Park Zoo, in a cherished Olmsted Park. The mayor wants it both ways: More cars, reduced greenhouse gases. Call it his Miracle Diet plan: Eat anything you want and still lose weight!

Maybe we should adopt the Morioka Way in Seattle: Just Don't Do It!

Slow Life Slow Food carbon footprint Cecile Andrews Take Back Your Time green lifestyle

Gap Between Rich & Rest of Us

2006-10-04T07:42:00.000-07:00

Yahoo News: Gap Between Richest, Poorest Workers in UK Grows.

"This increase in inequality damages social cohesion and holds back the whole economy," said Brendan Barber, head of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the umbrella grouping of labour unions in Britain.

From Slow Is Beautiful, p. 44: "The research is clear: The biggest predictor for the health of a nation (measured in the customary way, longevity) is wealth inequality — the gap between the rich and the poor, the size of the middle class."

Actually, I prefer to use the term "gap between the rich and the rest of us, since the wealthy, via tax breaks for the rich by the Bush administration, are distancing themselves from whatever is left of the middle class and the "poorest 99 percent" of the nation.

New Book "Slow Is Beautiful" Debuts Oct. 1

2006-09-28T21:28:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, I'm excited to announce that my new book, Slow Is Beautiful, from New Society Publishers, will be hitting bookstores the first of October!

I've started a blog to help spread the word, of course, and keep Web users abreast of new developments in life's Slow Lane.

We'll be covering everything from the Slow Food Movement to Take Back Your Time project focused on Oct. 24th each year, the Japan-based Slow Life movement and a host of other "slow" efforts worldwide.

I'll also be updating visitors on my personal appearances in media and on the road through October, November and the coming winter of 2006-2007. Watch for an appearance of me, my bichon frise Maggie and faithful chauffeur, husband Paul Andrews in our van, the Slowmobile, all around the West Coast in a community near you!

Questions? Ideas? Suggestions? Please email me at cecile (at) simplicitycircles.com. I'll try to get right back to you...slowly. Well, faster than snail mail!

-- Cecile Andrews