Choosing a Slower Path
Remember during COVID and sheltering in place, when everything suddenly slowed down?
It was scary and uncertain, but I also found an unexpected sense of comfort in the quiet. There were fewer cars on the road. The air became cleaner. Wildlife seemed to relax and reclaim a little space. People were forced to pause, stay home and live more simply.
During that time, I felt hopeful. I wondered if we might carry some of that slowness into the future. Perhaps we would remember that we didn’t need to rush everywhere, buy everything or fill every moment. Maybe we would lean into a quieter and more meaningful way of living.
But here we are, and the world doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all.
Artificial intelligence is becoming stronger and smarter at an super fast pace. It can be incredibly helpful—I use it myself—but the speed and competition surrounding it feel chaotic. Many AI systems are trained to reach a particular goal or produce the “right” result. In some ways, it reminds me of being taught that acing the test is the measure of success, rather than valuing the experience, the curiosity or what we learn along the way.
It feels like the exact opposite of what I hoped we might learn during COVID.
I don’t yet know how to balance all of this. I don’t think any of us fully understand where it is going or how it will change the way we live. But I do know that I don’t want to be swept up in the chaos.
I want to keep choosing the slower path.
I want to make things with my hands. Sit beneath the trees. Listen to the birds. Paint, drum, meditate and spend time with people I love. I want to use technology when it serves me without allowing it to determine the pace of my life.
Perhaps slowing down will no longer be something the world does together. Perhaps it will become a personal choice—a boundary we create to protect our time, our attention and our humanity.
The world may not be slowing down, but I still can.
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