About a year ago, my boyfriend, his daughter and I lived in an apartment in inner Nørrebro in Copenhagen. We loved the raw and unfiltered neighborhood, the cafes and takeaways, the exotic and ethnical variety of shops just at our doorstep, feeling the pulsating everyday life in the city. We traveled a lot, like a flight every month, mixed business and pleasure. Travelled to seek inspiration from new places, to ease our minds, to relax and to feel alive.
Today, a year later, we have moved away from the vibrant Nørrebro to the beach and green areas of Amager Strand, only 10 minutes away from Copenhagen city center. And I had never thought I would appreciate a green garden so much, rollercoasting along the beach promenade and going for walks in the neighborhood greeting neighbors and their cats and dogs. We don’t need to travel far away to find the balance within ourselves. It comes more natural now. A small break in the garden now and then, can do wonders.
We are not the only ones who retreat to nature, rural areas and smaller communities. It’s time for a greater awareness of things that calm our minds and heal our busy life. The slow life.
Maybe it is the age we are in, maybe a natural next step in the development of our family life or maybe we just follow the trends in society? Climate change, sustainability, CO2 emissions, vegetarianism, organic and biodynamics, recycling and over-consumption, mind- fulness and slow living. Is it a slow cultural revolution?