illustration by Lindsay Dale

Some call sloths the bodhisattva of the forest because they have an inherent peaceful smile on their faces while hanging in the trees. This unique animal has evolved in direction of slowness instead of speed - their slowness is their survival strategy. Sloths have a very slow metabolism and little food keeps them going for days. They have very little muscle mass and are light enough to rest hanging from thin branches in the very tops of the trees where predators can hardly reach them.

According to Japanese anthropologist and environmental activist Keibo Oiwa slowness is a beautiful skill we can learn from sloths. ‘Slow is beautiful’ he says. ‘In the modern world you have to go faster, so that the other person feels that he or she has to go faster too. Then you have to go faster again. We are actually stealing time from each other. After all, time is the only thing that belongs to us in this life. Life is time. We have been trying to be successful in this competitive world by sacrificing the only thing we have, which is time.’

But we can also reclaim and appreciate our time. We can embrace slowness.

Have a beautifully slow Christmas all!

Big thanks to Resurgence Magazine for sharing this inspiring story!