"Most processes in the natural world--the decomposition of leaves, the growth of trees, the pollination of flowers--are slow by human standards. Even things that appear fast, such as falling rain, move slowly in the embrace of nature. The rainwater dripping down to the forest floor slowly soaks into the soil and gradually percolates down to the water table, recharging the soil aquifer. But what happens when humans replace forests with parking lots? In this case, the rainwater is not able to recharge the aquifer. Instead, it rushes across blacktop into culverts and then to streams. Hence, when rainwater moves too quickly, it is lost from the ecosystem, and soil aquifers fail to recharge.
Environmental educator David Orr notes that there is a lesson in this for our times. When things move too quickly in modern life, the essential well-springs of community life are not replenished. Take money aquifers, for example. When businesses are locally owned, money moves slowly, passing from person to person; it circulates within the community and thus has a multiplier effect. But when local businesses are replaced by the likes of Wal-Mart and Sam's Club, money quickly exits the local economy. Like water over blacktop, outside businesses cause money to speed away; they fail to recharge local wellsprings of prosperity...
In sum, much of what is important in life--thinking deeply, creating works of art, making difficult moral decisions, practicing democracy, raising children, caring for each other--can only be done slowly. Slowing down is a revolutionary act; it allows us to live our lives with more attention and awareness."
Christopher Uhl, Developing Ecological Consciousness: Path to a Sustainable Future
