How to Slow Down Your Life, Quiet the City, and Revive Our World with Bill Powers – SASM 065

Trends are a funny thing.

On one end we have industries like food and fashion, desperately trying to set the next trend, so they can win more market share.

But despite all these wonderful product and services – advertised as making our lives “easier” and “happier” – the long-term trend is to a less healthy, more busy, and more sleep-deprived society than ever.

What if there was a simple solution that gave us back a sense of freedom? Something important beyond the freedom to choose which Greek yogurt brand to buy?

What if there was a way of life that allowed us to eat mindfully, connect meaningfully, and intentionally slow down … even in the world's fastest cities?

Bill Powers, my guest for this Smart and Simple Matters episode, is highly qualified to address these questions. Urban or rural, North American or African, “go go go” and “slow slow slow” … he's seen and lived it all.

You'll often hear me talk about the crossroads of simple living and community-building from a SimpleREV perspective, but Bill's a guy permanently camped as that intersection. Formerly an intentional aid worker and conservationist, he's now motivating new generations with his book, New Slow City, to sustain a self-paced life.

He's currently living on a permaculture farm in Bolivia with his wife and two-year-old daughter, so there's authority and sincerity when he says:

For 1/5th the GDP, you can have the same happiness without destroying the planet. – Bill Powers

Join us to examine what it means to slow down, gain perspective, and experience abundance in some places you might not look (or even know about).

You're about to Learn …

• Why most of the world is ecocidal (and how we reverse that).
• How to get off the work-and-spend treadmill.
• Why you should “W.A.I.T.” before speaking.
• What it's like to live in a twelve-by-twelve foot cabin.
• Why slowing down is essential to preserve (and enjoy) our natural bounty.
• How Bill found an urban sanctuary on New York City's “Tar Beach.”
• Why Carlos Slim – the world's richest man – wants a three-day work week.
• How you can help make unsustainable systems obsolete … right now.
• Why experiencing nothingness can revitalize you.
• How Bill uses silent meals to fully connect with his surroundings.

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Resources and Items Mentioned in This Episode:

• Websites:
  • William Powers Books
  • TimeDay.org
• Resources:
  • Scott Dinsmore's Goal Setting and Action Workbook (email opt-in required)
• Books:
  • New Slow City
  • Twelve by Twelve
• Podcast Episodes:
  • Why Simple is So Complex with Duane Elgin, Vicki Robin, John de Graaf, Cecile Andrews, and Jerome Segal – SASM052
• Blog Posts:
  • Opening the Labyrinth from Dave Rowley
• Bill on Social Media
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Topics

• [04:29] Bill's seeds of awesomeness
• [09:19] Using an apartment rooftop as your beach and backyard
• [10:42] The benefits of going slow
• [18:07] How to maintain healthy relationships when you go offline
• [22:01] Making any space a meditative place
• [26:36] Silent meals and the intention behind them
• [30:40] The role of slow money in the slow movement
• [33:53] Becoming more self-aware and thinking about thinking

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Transcript

The transcript will not be available until I find a new transcriptionist (if you know someone good, let me know).

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