PUBLISHER’S NOTE
Hey you! Yeah, you! Are you feeling frazzled? Over busy? Stretched to the limit? Does the idea of even one more task leave you feeling breathless, ready to run to the closet for your overnight bag and head to Costa Rica? If not, then I would prefer not to know. But for the majority of people I’ve talked to in the past few months, the world is moving in fast-forward.
It is normal to cram activities into the few glorious months of summertime. Yet somehow it feels extraordinarily hectic these days. The recognized effects of instantaneous technology play a part, no doubt. But the resultant ability to do more in less time hasn’t led to people safeguarding the extra time and making space in their lives for slow-down leisure time. Instead, we do more and more.
I’m making the plunge to slow it down. This year marks my Burning Man maiden voyage (see a Burning Man photo spread, p. 45). Of course, it is adding more tasks to the list, but I look forward to the precious freedom from set schedules, cell phones, and household chores. In the spirit of the Man, I have come up with my way to contribute to the Playa community. I’d like to share it here with you, too: the Slow-It-Down Button.
This valuable tool is here for you when life is streaking by much too fast. Give time a gentle tug backwards. Tear this button out, keep it in your pocket, and when you feel strapped, give it a press.
Many stories in this month’s edition speak to seizing the moment: Melissa Siig’s column talks of a relaxing mode of travel (p. 6), readers share their special summer moments in the Tahoe Summer Annual (p. 19), conservation groups make the most of a down market (p. 12), and Skate the Lake shows the difference one can make through sheer determination (p. 30).
Press the button, open these pages, and ease off the gas pedal.
As always,
Mayumi Elegado
~ Comment on this column below.
