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Trust me, this isn’t what I had in mind.

As the unofficial “godfather of the Slow Movement,” I’ve spent the last 15 years traveling the world to sing the praises of slowness. Urging people to reconnect with their inner tortoise. Calling for deceleration on a global scale.

Well, careful what you wish for ….

The Covid-19 pandemic has certainly forced the world to slow down – but not in a good way.

Like most of you, I’m finding the lockdown hard. It’s a rollercoaster: good days followed by less good ones, then a little jump, maybe a plateau, another dip, then back up again. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. It’s exhausting and demoralising. 

And I’m one of the lucky ones, with good health, a roof over my head and food on the table. The Covid crisis is causing far greater hardship to those with less.

But even in this bleak moment there can be a silver lining. As someone (possibly Winston Churchill) once said: “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” 

Translation: if we learn the lessons of this pandemic, we can make the world a much better place for everyone. 

Let’s not waste this moment of mandatory slowness. Let’s use it to rethink and redesign our lives. To rediscover the many upsides of slowing down. 

Here are five ways to use the lockdown to do just that:

1. Devote more time to simple, slow pursuits: reading, playing board games, cooking and baking, making art and music, meditation.

2. Reconnect with the people you love. Online or in person (where safe).

3. Rest and sleep more. Do things simply for the joy of doing them. Or sometimes do nothing at all.  Be proud – not ashamed – of doing less, of streamlining your To-Do list to focus on what’s important.

4. Reflect on how to transform your life after the crisis. Grapple with those big questions: Who am I? What really matters to me? How can I be a better friend, parent, partner, boss, neighbour, employee, citizen?

5. Find ways to help those less fortunate than you. If this pandemic proves anything, it’s that the world is a better place when we slow down and help each other. As the old proverb goes: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

Bottom line: the slowness forced upon us by the pandemic can be a great gift – if we embrace it.

A darkness has descended and we are all suffering. My heart goes out to each and every one of you.

In times of crisis, though, I always look for the silver lining, the jiu-jitsu move that will turn the downside into upside.

The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing the world to slow down. We can chafe against this. Or we can use the slowness as a way to reboot our lives.

Don’t know about you, but I prefer Option 2.

Here are five ways to put the global slowdown to good use:

1. Rediscover the joys of small, simple, unhurried pursuits. Actually, this is already happening. In homes across the globe, people in lockdown are playing board games, baking bread, reading books, making art and music, cooking from scratch, learning to play instruments.
2. Reconnect face to face with the people who matter most to you. Face to face at home or virtually over the Web.
3. Relearn the lost art of rest, daydreaming, doing nothing or just sleeping enough.
4. Reflect on the big questions that so often get brushed aside in the headlong dash of daily life. Such as: Am I living the life I really want to be living? Where do I want to be 10 years from now? What can I change to be a better friend, parent, partner, employee?
5. Find ways to help those less fortunate than you. If this pandemic can teach us anything it’s that the world is a better place when we all look out for each other. Or, as the old proverb goes: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

Nothing like a crisis to focus the mind on what really matters. Especially a crisis that forces us to get back in touch with our inner tortoise.

Good luck to you all!