Above all, my ‘need for slow’ is put to the test when trying to master the art of translating thoughts and ideas into the written word. This makes for fun study time. I cringe at the thought of even writing a cover letter, let alone a 10,000 word dissertation. This is partly because I am a self-confessed speedthinkaholic.
So, what better place to chip away at this problem than through writing blogs on Slow Planet!

As an speedthinker, I had just a few hundred thoughts up my sleeve that I was dying to share on Slow Planet.

Instead, please let me introduce to you a potent theme that has run through them all:

How I Kill my Literary Tortoise:
Stage One: Expectations.  “It has to be perfect!”
Stage Two: Limitations. “It has to be done by 10 o clock!”
Stage Three: Obligations. “It has to be brown, square, dull, blegh..”*clicks on facebook*
Result: Overwhelmed Overthinker.

To illustrate, here’s batch of over-thinking, fresh from the oven:

Blog: I have to find that perfect niche! The slow movement is so INTRINSIC to my DEEPEST convictions.. where to even BEGIN! OK.. lets start thinking about it shall we..steady…steady..
With a million intertwined ideas screaming for further investigation, finding one shining beacon worth reflecting on is overwhelming. My mind is RACING with SLOWNESS! - I’ve successfully achieved stage one. Tick!

“But, alas, I must write SOMETHING! “

Deadline: It has to be done by 10 o clock!  Smart thinking Elise. That way I’ll be SURE to spew something out there! Fantastic. I’m in stage two. The nasty ‘O’ word (obli-*choke*) has caste its spell on the task at hand and I find myself embracing a world of..
Dullification: Checkmate. It’s an obligation. ‘It has to be done by 10! ‘ ‘I am limited to one topic!’ My mind loves to create obligations and starts thinking up a whole bunch of others to keep the original ones company. Ironically, I end up wondering why writing a blog on slow is proving tedious while a million thoughts race through my head. Blogging becomes that square, brown, dull box. My literary tortoise is sick.

Feeding my Literary Tortoise:
Cutting some slack:  Sometimes the best way the take something seriously is to laugh at just how seriously I am taking it. Humour acts as a match maker between serious idealism and creative spontaneity!

Ditching obligations: Not ignoring a deadline. But whenever possible, doing what I feel capable of doing, allowing my engagement in the project at hand to dictate how much time will be appropriate for its completion, rather than a clock on the wall. I sometimes write a list FULL of plans, making sure to include deadlines for them ALL. I then scrap the list and do what feels best. It helps me to see the humour in how tightly time has me wrapped around its little finger. Often, my day becomes more productive.

Just do it: Just do it.

That said, I look forward to looking forward to posting again,
Slowly does it!

Today, we have been celebrating the Portugal’s Day. Not only in Portugal but all over Portuguese Communities around the World.

The 10th of June is one of the Portuguese national bank holidays and it’s a significant date to the Country where the most important Political and Military entities are the main players of the celebrations and speeches that last for most part of the day.

However, apart from these celebrations there was an important news that had a strong impact on every national TV channels and Press: for the first time, since 1900, Portugal has presented the lowest rate of Newborn Children in the Country. People get married later than ever, have children almost at 40 and there are more people dieing than in the previous decades versus the number of people that are born.

Many political analysts commented on these facts and they all have agreed about the causes behind these structural Social problems:

1. the worldwide economical crisis;
2. the high levels of unemployment;
3. the lack of employment stability.

In fact, a huge stain for an important date that celebrates the Nation.

However, I believe that there are other causes for the negative results of this National Demographics Report. There’s a strong need to change the way Societies live, not only in Portugal but all over the Planet. Even if the economical crisis was not so serious as it is, if the levels of unemployment were not so high, etc… would these results be too different?… Probably but not meaningfully. The numbers would rise but… at a slower pace.

To make my point, as far as I’m concerned, even if the scenario was of economical growth would the levels of stress, anxiety and pressure decrease? Would people feel themselves with better lives with more free time to enjoy the goods they would buy and to spend more time with their family and children? I don’t think so. Without wanting to speculate too much about the economical issues the fact is that our lives became worse - qualitatively speaking - with the fast economical development of many countries without knowing how to manage that growth and not measuring the impact of that economical and technological development on Society.

I am neither against the technology nor the economical growth! I am known among my friends as the “Gadget Girl”. :)  And I do believe this is vital for our survival and also quality of living. However, in times of worldwide crisis, worldwide stress and anxiety, worldwide depression increasing levels… lessons must be learnt and not be camouflaged.

Any kind of development process should be also sustainable for long-term and its impacts on our lifestyle should be measured and monitoriesed in short-periods of time.

Technological and Economical growth are extremely important to maintain our social systems working but in a more humanized and qualitative way.

This is my biggest wish for the Day of my Nation: Portugal.

How do you decide the kind of life you want to have? And, when do you decide this? A lot of people will answer “When you start working”. Another bunch will reply, “No, the moment you enter high school”. Another small crew will say, “Actually, the first day of school”. And, leaving the cuter answer for the last, some will add “When you’re born”.

Having so many different points of view is really confusing. So, let’s take the one provided by society in general: “The day you finish high school”. Why? Because of all that that implies: saying good bye to your friends, to your parent’s house, to your childhood… you know: the losing part, which makes any human being start worrying about who they are. And do I know about losing! I’m 19 years old and I’m on my second year of college. That would practically mean that my life started almost two years ago. And if that’s true, I can’t imagine a scarier way of starting a life. But I wasn’t worried, neither confused, because before I could start taking decisions on my own, I received… a welcome package!

Of course, the package was delivered to my parent’s house with a huge note to remind me the oldest world known pray: CARPE DIEM. Which means: Seize the day. In the upper side of the box it said Welcome to the rest of your life, please, use it properly. Inside, there was another box where it said I almost forgot! With properly I mean: don’t waste it!. Inside this box (and continuing the mamushka doll annoying situation) there was another box with a relieving last note: I mean… you’re young. You don’t understand how the world works. I putted the instructions inside this box. Read them and then you’ll understand everything. I finally opened the last box. And there it was. Nothing. Nothing at all. “But… but…” (I read the notes over and over again looking for a secret message ) “…what do I do now?”. Desperated, I ran for advise and all I got was “Study a career. Any kind”; “Get a job. Any kind”; “Do anything. But do it now!”

I’ll spoil the end of the story. There never were instructions. And, of course, the box never existed. At least not for me. I listened to the advises, the complains, the critics and finally made a decision. I’ll not say that “I know which career I want to pursue”, I’ll say it in a way that sounds more important:

I’ve decided that I want to make a life based on Public Relations.

Wow. It sounds pretty awesome, huh?

There are a lot of confusions about this career because it’s a little bit of being a Publicist, a little bit of being a Marketing Person and a little bit of being a Journalist. And that’s what I love about PR: you can do a little bit of everything, you can relate to any kind of professional and you can always go further. The sky is the limit!

OK, but, going back to Earth… what do we have in the negative side? Sometimes… you have to do a little bit too much of everything. What I’ve learnt in my 2 years as a PR student is that responsibilities only increase as time passes. I’ve seen extremely stressed PR teachers. I’ve seen how my dad, who is also a PR, and even being al calmed as he is, sometimes just can’t take the pressure. I’ve seen how at the end of the day, PR professionals finish their work with no strength left. And I’ve heard, more than once, “You won’t be able to handle the pressure”.

So, after seeing, hearing and knowing how hard being a PR can and will be… why in the world would I want to become one? Because I can. Because I want to handle the responsibilities. Because I want to prove that you can be under pressure without being pressured. Because I really want to go further. And sometimes, going further is not only about actions. Going further means letting you mind go abroad, convinced that it doesn’t matter what happens today… it’s worth it.

Good for us. Good for all the PR students around the world. But what happens to those who have another kind of job?

If there’s something no one can deny about the Slow Movement is its diversity. From the highest professional to his lowest subordinate can pursue a slower life, a slower way of living. The bright side? There’s not negative secondary effects.

It’s really scary to pursue a dream and make a life out of it. Billy Joel would say “Dream on. But don’t imagine they’llall come true”. And he’s probably right. But in the end, what’s important it’s not the kind of life you want to have, it’s what you do to have it. You can have dreams or pursue them.

I’m going for the second choice. What about you?

My latest blog at Huffington Post is on the power of Slow Thinking.