Slowness. It's good for you.

The mantra of most of my telling these days, both proffesional and private, are revolving around parenthood and how it affects you. I think it is a shame not to learn and be inspired in such a blessed period of my life.
The other day I remembered a talk Carl Honore gave at the TED conference a few years ago about slowness and how storytelling to his own child helped him slow down.
TED, by the way, is a invitation only conference that are caring enough to give us mortals access to the presentations on video via the web. There are a huge archive over at TED with superb speakers.
But right now, set aside 20 minutes and hear why slow can be good for you by Mr. Honore.



Personally, I still have some steps to take before I can say that I have mastered slowness, but you will never get there if you don't start trying. Feel free to join the movement.

Looking at the world with baby perspective

My firstborn, Nikolas, has given me a new perspective on many aspects of life as I know it. One of the more profound teachings I've picked up is his way of looking at his surroundings, a.k.a the world.

For instance his ability not to read text. This might sound strange but imagine what you see in your urban surroundings if text is not guiding you. A storefront becomes something completely different. This lead me to think that we grown ups can perhaps learn from these pure souls. By trying to look at the world with a baby perspective we might see objects and design around us in a whole new way. At least for me it has given me a fresh look at the city I live in. Streets that before were boring have suddenly been given a new life because new meaning is given through some sort of childish purification.

Daniel Pink, the creative writer, claims that our left brain (the analyzer and spreadsheet tank) is given too much power. As you know, pictures says more than a thousand words and symbols are way more teling than a word. Take these for example. I guess you know the meaning behind at least to of them (warning some of them are from the digital era).


From left: Play, Action (on Playstation), Agree/Yes, I am happy (smiley)

Me, and many others, claims the importance to give our inner child life and space to breathe. If we're not capable of observing a childs behaviour and being inspired by it, that inner child can become a very dull adult person.
Questions like What is ugly and What is beautiful becomes meaningless (more or less) because they become interesting instead. The curiosity and pure joy of observing something for the first time is off course difficult to purely replicate, but if we give up trying then our ability to become excited takes a hard blow.

So why don't you give it a try. Go out and look at the world with baby perspective. If you have no clue how to, then observe a baby at first oppurtunity to get inspired.

"In adults, there is an ability to turn the brain up, to pay full attention, as we call it, so as to absorb information with more efficiency. In little kids, the brain is at this state of alertness all the time. Even when a kid is distracted, they are intensely distracted." David Cairns

Being parent - The introduction

For one month my wife and me have had the fantastic experience of becoming parents for the first time. And I guess we're like all other parents in most aspects. Our baby is the worlds most beautiful little revelation and he is fun to watch, even when he is staring empty into thin air.
But nobody told me that this creature had similarities with an army vehicle, namely the tank.
Meet the Nikolas WMC Tank
The Nikolas tank comes equipped with the basic package, but shows no mercy.
His cannon are showing steadily brute force and shoots without no warning when feeling danger. Danger can be daddy removing diaper or having slightly cold hands when trying to clean up the mess "down there". At latest measurment his cannon has shown reach beyond 60 CM. So far, the bathroom tiles are not breaking down from the harsh attacks...
His target precision is getting more accurate for each day that passes, and daddy is now thankful for all his promo t-shirts.
His armour seems to have an alarmsystem that is not adjusted properly yet. When trying to remove outer layer the alarm (read crying for the slow learners) goes off in a loud setting. It really doesn't matter if he has been driving through muddy terrain (read left a poo). The Nikolas WMC Tank likes dirt and mud much more than go through maintanance.
His fuelsystem is off the charts. The consumption of gas cannot be displaced fast enough and if his fuel tank are getting close to zero, the famous alarm goes off.
Actually, the alarmsystem really needs adjusting. It can sometimes go off for no reason in the middle of the night when parked in the garage (crib). It seems that his liking for close combat (read hugs and kisses) makes the garage a dull place...

Apart from the need for tweaking the system setup we are thrilled to have the Nikolas WMC (worlds most charming) tank in the house. If you haven't guessed it by now. The latest addition to the family is a wonderful boy named Nikolas.

I promise regular updates on how this superb creation fare with family and friends.