Being ‘Lazy’ and Slowing Down

Our mind is constantly thinking, our eyes perceiving screens or books, our ears listening, and our mouths speaking. Yet, what about those other parts of our bodies: stomach, chest, shoulders, legs, knees, backs, and so on? Amid deadlines and reviews,these non-productive parts of our bodies are rendered invisible.

Shahjahan calls on us to be “lazy” and “slow down.”

Lazy :being at peace with not doing or not being productive. Divesting ourselves from the need for some result over some time.

Slowing Down :building relationships and connections > production. Acceptance of and allowance for ambiguity, uncertainty of outcomes.

With the introduction of the clock, time was delinked from human bodies, and human bodies from nature.

When was the last time I went a day without looking at a clock? Sleep, meals, exercise — essential activities to our livelihood and health have been de-prioritized in favor of time. We make time to eat between meetings, stay up far too late to finish a project. Western notions of linear, immutable time have severed the link between humans and the natural cycles of which we are but one small part, no matter how late we stay up staring at our screens.

We have to re-embody ourselves…

Ref: Shahjahan, “Being ‘Lazy’ and Slowing Down.”

---