The Slow Movement

Chris Beytes

Could the world be slowing down just little bit? Maybe even to the pace of a relaxing stroll in the garden?

It doesn’t seem likely in this age of 24/7/365, does it, with everything moving at the speed of the Internet, a cell phone on every ear and “Sorry, no time!” the battle cry as we dash off to yet another commitment.

And yet there are a few signs out there that indicate that society might just be willing to get off the crazy train and take a break. Slow down, disconnect and once again find some time. And that bodes well for our industry—gardening—which, by nature, moves at a slow and easy pace.

I got wind of this “slow movement,” as one might call it, from Dutch trend analyst Christine Boland, keynote speaker at January’s Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition in Ft. Lauderdale. Christine, who does trend and design work for some of the most important corporations in the world, works by studying and filtering world news, she says, and determining how it affects consumers. She then translates this into “social trends, fashion trends, retail trends and consumer trends in general—and products that anticipate these.”

During her talk (which covered a range of societal trends), she gave the audience the following four examples of slowing down and disconnecting that I found fascinating enough to build this column around.

Delayed Gratification magazine. As a magazine veteran myself, I found this one fascinating. A magazine about delayed gratification in an age of instant gratification not quite being fast enough? A quick check of their website reveals that DG is a quarterly “slow news” publication that looks back at the news of the last three months and gives in-depth detail and analysis. It’s a counter to the daily news cycle, incessant tweets and talking heads giving lots of opinions but few facts.

One-Hour Photo. Remember when one hour was quick? Now it’s an eternity. But this iPhone app actually makes you wait one whole hour before you get to see the results of your photos (in a “beautiful black and white film emulation,” they say). It sounds nuts, but their argument in favor is, “By the time you see your photos, the moments they’ve captured have already become memories, which changes how you feel about them forever.” Oddly, that makes sense. Like how food seems to taste better when you’re extra hungry. “Each photo becomes a little present to your future self.”

The “Silence Room” at Selfridge’s department store in London. Inspired by one built by the founder in 1909, this is a spot where customers can unwind and relax. While not completely silent (it’s near a road, the café and two elevators), it’s designed to “encourage visitors to lower their voices and take time to unwind.”

Kit Kat’s “Free No-WiFi Zone.” Granted, this was an Amsterdam advertising campaign in which the candy company set up circular benches and then jammed all cellular signals within a 5-meter radius, giving commuters a break from the digital world. Says their ad, … “we blocked all signals so people could escape emails, updates, tag or likes. Instead, they could enjoy a good old newspaper or hardcover book. Some even had a real conversation. While eating a Kit Kat, of course.”

Now, granted, one ad, one room in a department store, one app and a quarterly magazine do not constitute a great awakening. But coming from such diverse sources, you can be sure that there are thousands of other small examples out there, which, to me, do indicate a trend in our favor.

So what to do with this knowledge? Plenty.

Why not create your own quiet zone within your garden center or nursery? Why not joke on your marquee, “The best tweets come from our birding department.” And certainly, a seed or bulb is the ultimate retro-style “app.” (Search for the video of IKEA’s “bookbook” commercial for an example.)

The world is only going to get more hectic, and folks are going to want more ways to escape, if only for a moment.

That is what we do best. Let’s tell them about it. GT