Motion

Forego the usual dash to work and go your own way for a change, watching the preoccupied madness that usually envelops you. A morning constitutional is incredibly invigorating, and we have the perfect climate for enjoying one. So don your comfortably daggy walking shoes, grab a coffee to go, and think about your normal stammer through traffic as you meander, obstacle free, to the place where you earn your keep, marvelling in all the new things you notice along the way. If you need a little prompting, check out national walk to work day, Friday 5 October, at www.walk.com.au. (From Amy.)

Become a walking billboard for slow with one of these unique and extremely limited brooches or necklaces, constant reminders to you and anybody that checks you out to live more and fret less. We made them to help ingratiate ourselves with the media but decided – mercenary marketing types we are – that they were too good to just give away. So contribute to this website with a useful comment, email with an idea for a thread, or just share something suitably slow and you'll go into the running (or should that be cantering?) for one of the 10 pieces we'll give away at random over the next couple of weeks. There are also fabulous blackboards, which we'd be very happy to keep all to ourselves. But we could probably be persuaded to part with a few if asked nicely.

After a year of not living nearly slowly enough, getting pent up about the proper use of semi-colons and the like, worrying about the cost of printing in Australia and stressing about the thousands of things it takes to put books together, we’re happy…nay, relieved to say The Slow Guide to Melbourne and The Slow Guide to Sydney will be published from 1 October and will cost $29.95 each. Quite unexpectedly on time. See slow guides (top right) for the hard sell because, right now, we’re going back to smell the roses. Oh, and if you find mistakes, do let us know. But not until AFTER CHRISTMAS!

Technology promised us more time for leisure, but instead strapped us to computers, mobile phones, Black berries and other gadgets that constantly remind us of the time and the fact that we don’t have enough of it. We’ve become enslaved by the clock, an overlord from which we can’t escape – unless, of course, we actually decide to.

Is time a force we’re constantly pushing against, to be more productive, competitive or happy? Or is it the wondrous cycle of the natural world? Does time sound like ‘tick-tock’ and ‘beep-beep’, or the dawn chorus of birds singing and nocturnal creatures scurrying? Does it have a little-hand and a big-hand, or does it look like the changing light as the sun comes up, moves across the sky, and goes back down again?

City life is controlled by mechanical time yet we humans are naturally governed by biological time. Research by Deakin University and Parks Victoria found that these competing clocks cause us to become tense, irritable and unfocused. To counter those negative effects, tune into the natural world more and ‘clear your head’. Take off your shoes, smell the jasmine, notice nesting birds, visit an island in the middle of the Yarra…

The Idler is a twice-yearly mook (half book-half magazine) from Britain that is dedicated to the lost art of loafing. Editor and purveyor of this whimsical, inspirational, hilarious and largely impractical philosophy for living is Tom Hodkginson. I crossed paths with Tom nearly two decades ago, when I was a work experience kid doing two weeks of getting in the way. Tom is also author of two great books, How to be Free and How to be Idle. Visit The Idler where, among other things, you’ll find this Freedom Manifesto:

BAKE BREAD
MUCK ABOUT
QUIT MOANING
STOP CONSUMING
START PRODUCING
BACK TO THE LAND
SMASH USURY
EMBRACE BEAUTY
IGNORE THE STATE
REFORM IS FUTILE
HAIL THE SPADE
HAIL THE QUILL
LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR
BE CREATIVE
DIG THE EARTH
MAKE COMPOST
DOWN WITH HEALTH
DOWN WITH SAFETY
DOWN WITH WORK
DOWN WITH PENSIONS
BE ALIVE
BE MERRY
Be Free!

Slow the rush of thoughts flooding your brain. You are visiting this website? Where are you, in the context of your surroundings? Are you comfortable? What can you hear?

Mindfulness is perhaps our greatest gift and the greatest gift we can give back to the planet. Think in the moment about what you’re doing. It will encourage you to slow down and enjoy what you’re doing, to get more out of life and feel in greater control. All you have to do is think about it. Drink a glass of water and remind yourself, “I am drinking a glass of water”. Think about the taste, the health benefits, the purifying goodness.

Just try and think about what you’re doing some more in your daily life, whether you’re walking, working or even stressing. Think about ‘what’ instead of ‘why’ or ‘when’. It will help you develop a quiet mind, the most powerful tool any of us can possess.

Smell

What’s the smell of Sydney in spring? In the suburbs the lawns have started growing lush again so the air is filled with the smell freshly mown grass. Add the heady scent of jasmine and we know summer is on the way. The longer evenings and the arrival of spring blooms prompt late-afternoon strolls. What’s the signature scent of your street?

Motion

The City of Sydney Spring Cycle will take place on Sunday 21 October and follow the same route as last year, with the 50km option starting at St Leonard's Park North Sydney, heading across the traffic-free Harbour Bridge traffic free and finishing on the fabulous Olympic Boulevard at Sydney Olympic Park. This is a great way to see some of the most picturesque and cycle-friendly sights in Sydney and a great slow day out among friends and family. There are a range of rides from a freewheeling 5km to a 50km slog. Visit the http://www.springcycle.com.au/ to register and for more info.

The new edition of Dumbo Feather, pass it on, comes out on 30 September. If you’re not already familiar with Dumbo Feather, you’re in for a treat. It’s a beautifully designed and lovingly produced quarterly magazine that focuses on the stories of five ordinary people who’ve done extraordinary things by following their dreams and believing in themselves.

Dumbo, you might remember, was a cartoon elephant ridiculed because of his unfeasibly large ears. His handicap was also his special power because he was able to fly. But he didn’t believe he could fly without a ‘magic feather’ given to him by his friend Timothy Mouse. If you’re waiting for your own magic feather, this could well be your inspiration. Visit the website www.dumbofeather.com to subscribe or pop along to your local newsagent.