Recently, I saw a commercial on TV where a mom and a kid were “baking” together for Christmas. Traditional Christmas music in the background, mother-daughter bonding, really playing at your heartstrings. What were they baking, you ask? They were removing pre-molded cookie dough rounds from the packaging and placing them on a baking sheet. As anyone who was born before 1980 knows, making cookies from scratch takes a half an hour, tops. I worry, is this kid going to grow up thinking this is what it means to bake?

The world is a fast place, filled with stuff and shortcuts. So I guess it makes sense that Christmas would reflect that. The trouble is, we’re all a little broke from living this way, and the planet is groaning from last year’s stocking stuffers. And we’re teaching our children that shortcuts are as good as the real thing. And that having cookies is the same as making them.  So what if this year, instead of spending time at the mall buying family and friends stuff they may not even like, I stay home and bake cookies with them instead?

And so it was that I embarked on my Slow Christmas journey. I am chronicling the annual rituals honestly, from Black Friday to the after Christmas sales. I’ll be taking a closer look at our motives, and the motives of the companies who are selling us stuff, and asking if there might be a better way to keep Christmas. The Christmas season means something different to each of us, but what it shouldn’t mean is endless errands and a second mortgage. We need to slow down Christmas, and start enjoying it.

I hope you’ll join me, dear Slow Planeteers, in pledging to give an experience, a donation, or something homemade for Christmas this year. Keep Christmas Slow.

Today marks the true start of the Slow Book Tour.  I knew walking to my local library, with 20 books on my back, would be no problem.  It’s only 2 miles away.  But then my old friend Devin needed help with a fundraising drive for his nature camp.  They would be perched on the side of the opposite mountain, about 3 miles away, and a thousand feet up.  Kal and I had to stick to the roads due to hunting season.  Took the walk SLOW.  Stopped for views, and to contemplate old Shaker barns.  Stuffed envelopes for a few hours, then shouldered up the pack for the 2 mile stroll down the long dirt road into the town of New Lebanon.  The reading at the library was an intimate affair.  A success, for sure.  Then another 2 miles home late in the evening, with a final climb up the steep Spring Hill Road to get to the house.  22 books are much heavier than I thought!  Sold 5 at the library, which cut down on the weight a bit.  Either way, today I am sore.  Either way, I am now more convinced than ever that WALKING is the foundation of all things SLOW.

The launch of Australia’s first magazine dedicated to all types of slowness kicked off in August 2009 in the regional town of Castlemaine, Victoria. A full-colour magazine, ‘Slow. For those who think life’s too fast’ has attracted much feedback and publicity. Slow, a quarterly, is distributed through newsagents, bookstores and community hubs in Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia, Melbourne and Sydney - with plans to expand into a national magazine after issue 4 - but hey there’s no rush.
Created by a media savvy team of treechangers, Slow is available via online subscription or via email to slowcoach@slowmagazine.com.au

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?

It’s great to be here!  I am in the process of launching both an idependent bookstore tour for my new novel, titled The Farmer, as well as what I’m calling the Slow Book Movement.  The goal is to create a resurgence in the lost art of literature, and to one day grow as large and widespread as the Slow Food Movement.  I want to involve writers, readers, publishers, and anyone else with a love and interest in good books.  This is my opening post of what will be an ongoing blog describing the adventure of a self-published book tour and starting up a brand new movement!  To begin, check out my portal for fund-raising on Kickstarter.com.  Search for “The Farmer Book Tour”.  This website is great, and may help other slow people get their own projects going!  Thanks for reading and keep checking for updates.  Right now my novel is at the printing press, so the big release date is coming up soon!!