Addicted to Fast
Ancient texts talk of an “Eden”. A place uncorrupted, an ecosystem operating in total balance within itself. Where creativity and work are intertwined and purpose doesn’t need to be found, it just is. Here, life moves slow because it can. Fruit has space to ripen by the sun. Grass has freedom to reach its height. And humans have a chance to grow in destiny, not just age.
As the story moves forward, these texts talk about a “fall” of humankind. As a result, this Eden becomes hard to manage. Thorns grow and choke out crops, the ground becomes infertile, and humans experience pain and discontentment. Ultimately, it is written that everything on the Earth began to die.
Imagine a world where everything was allowed the time and space to grow up into something authentic, and good. Where every human hand that created was respected and compensated for their craft. Imagine, everything you owned was a piece of art. Things that would last you your lifetime and beyond. Things that brought purpose and meaning, because of the human hands that made them. An ecosystem of artists operating in total balance within itself. Where creativity and work are intertwined and purpose doesn’t need to be found in “stuff”, it just is.
The mastering of “fast” is our modern day fall. The fall of creativity. The fall of quality. The fall of sustainability. The fall of relationship and community. The fall of our humanity as it pertains to consumption. Think about it. Instead of asking our neighbors for a cup of sugar, we Instacart. Instead of buying a painting from a local artist, we buy printed AI generated pictures on cheap plastic canvas. We buy home goods and clothing that were made by the hands of those oppressed and enslaved while billionaires profit from their labor. We buy things that break, to rebuy things that break, to rebuy things that break. We fill the Earth with our wasted efforts to receive the things we want without giving anything in return. We are addicted to fast. And we are always unsatisfied. We consume copious amounts of counterfeit whilst forever craving what is real. Fall.
We can’t go back to before it happened. We can’t change the disastrous damage we have done. But we can move forward imperfectly to begin to cultivate, in our own lives and community, a culture of slow.
Source from real people. Build relationship with artisans. Create, and empower creation. Build your life around purpose. Deal with your addiction. Be a part of the restoration.
