Big and Small

We have taller buildings, but shorter tempers.
We have wider motorways, but narrower viewpoints.
We have bigger houses and smaller hearts to accommodate.
More conveniences but less time.
Bigger shops but more rubbish.
We have more degrees, but less sense.
More knowledge, but less judgement.
We have more experts, yet more problems.
We yap too much, and spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch too much TV.
We believe in smart work but not hard work.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.
We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
We have learnt how to make a quick buck, but not a life.
We have added years to life not life to years.
We have learnt to rush, but not to wait.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, bigger businesses, steeper profits and growing poverty.
These are the days of suicide attacks, burning trains and shameless laughing in talk shows.
These are the days of quick trips, disposable commitments, throwaway morality, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to kill.
It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom.
Is it time to slow down and seriously think about what we want, and who we are?
In Slowness, a novel written by Milan Kundera in 1995, he poses a question of what we should choose between speeding cars and slow walks through a garden.
He ties slowness to the act of remembering, and the speed to the act of forgetting.  When one wants to savour, remember, or prolong a moment, one moves and acts slowly.  On the other hand, one travels fast in order to forget.
Speed creates vulgarity.  Speed encourages rash decisions and ultimately failure.
Big or small?
Fast or slow?
More or less?
What is good, and what is bad?


My column illustration titled "The Small Shops" | July 2012