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China Elevator Stories
The Lost Art of Living Slowly
Watching a snail taught me that a natural rhythm is ingrained in all of us.
15/03/2025
Ruth Silbermayr
Author
A lot of the time, nature operates in a way similar to the Chinese concept of wuwei (无为)—the art of effortless living. This way of life can be learned by growing up in the countryside; in fact, if you did, like I did, this knowledge may already be ingrained within you. I grew up in the countryside of Upper Austria, where I became familiar with living in alignment with nature, following its natural flow rather than adhering to an artificial, stressful, man-made way in which everything must be adjusted, controlled, or managed.
The art of effortless living translates to living in alignment with nature’s rhythms and not rushing through life or forcing things. It’s about allowing events to unfold naturally rather than pushing them in an artificial, stressful way.
According to this article on livinginbecoming.com,
wu wei or “woo way” is the Taoist principle of effortless action or non-action. It emphasizes spontaneity and the natural alignment with the universe. In English, wu wei means “inaction”, “not forcing” or “nondoing.” However, the meaning of wu wei is not about inactivity or idleness. Instead, it refers to a certain type of doing which could be best described as acting effortlessly.
Growing up, we could see the Alps in the distance, and I experienced many beautiful sunrises and sunsets during my childhood. The night sky was breathtaking, filled with stars visible almost every night—except when clouds covered them. In August, we would lie on the grass and watch the stars, trying to spot satellites, which resembled stars but moved slowly enough to be distinguished. We would also watch airplanes far in the distance.
During summer, many times, a hot air balloon would land somewhere nearby, and as children, we would often watch it descend.
When I was in primary school, most of the other pupils attended religion class (as the majority were Catholic), while I sat on the floor at the back of the classroom watching a snail. As a child, I could watch a snail for hours without becoming impatient. Life was still slow, and by observing nature, I experienced the natural flow of things—quite naturally.
We grew up very differently from those raised in the Austrian capital. In summer, we ran around and played outside, swimming often. In winter, we played in the snow or sledded down a nearby hill. We played in the forest all year long.
Life was much slower back then, not just because we lived in the countryside but also because we didn’t have smartphones. We had a TV, but we weren’t allowed to watch it all the time—which, in hindsight, was certainly beneficial for us.
Observing nature teaches you that everything has its own natural rhythm and timing. A tree needs time to grow. Spring follows winter. Plants are sown at a specific time of year—not just whenever we feel like it.
The same applies to people. Some people naturally move at a slower pace, while others are naturally faster. But nobody should push themselves to the point of exhaustion due to an artificially fast-paced lifestyle. You have to recognize whether you’re working with nature or against it.
Recently, someone has been stressing me out because he completely ignores the natural pace of things. He believes that everything is better when rushed, that important steps can be skipped, and that natural processes don’t need to unfold in their own time. Instead, he constantly interferes and turns every step into a hassle, overcomplicating everything by trying to force things and by trying to artificially ‘make them better’ (making everything worse, every single time).
A snail moves at its own pace, but it will reach its destination if allowed to crawl naturally. It wouldn’t succeed if forced to sprint—because that’s simply not how its body is designed.
According to Carol Tuttle, there are four personality types: Type 1 (air), Type 2 (water), Type 3 (fire), and Type 4 (earth). Some types are naturally slower than others—water, for example, moves more slowly than fire. But no type functions well when pushed beyond a healthy pace, not even the naturally faster ones. Introverts often need a slower rhythm than extroverts, and highly sensitive people (HSPs) may also require a gentler pace to avoid overwhelming their nervous systems. People with intuitive intelligence will instinctively recognize the pace that works best for them. However, those who ignore the natural flow of things often push others to work faster, skip important steps, and conform to an exhausting, unnatural sprint—not just occasionally, but constantly.
It’s easy to see that sprinting 24 hours a day would be unsustainable. Forcing people to work faster and shorten processes by cutting out essential parts doesn’t lead to better results—it simply creates extreme stress and pressure, ultimately harming a person’s health and resulting in a product or service of poor quality, rather than great quality.
If the person imposing this pressure is a narcissist, reasoning with them won’t work. You can tell them, Hey, you’re putting too much pressure on people. You’re not allowing things to flow naturally, and it’s ruining everything, but they won’t understand. Instead, they’ll think, She’s too slow. She needs to go faster. Rather than trusting your intuitive intelligence—your inner knowing, independent of external authorities—they’ll force you into an unnatural way of doing things, one that doesn’t align with the natural order.
For years, the individual who has stalked me has projected onto me the idea that I’m “too slow” and that “I’m lazy.” I’ve told him repeatedly that things take time and patience. I appreciate patience in a person, but this individual has none—he constantly rushes things, unaware that speeding up always makes things worse, not better.
If something takes 40 minutes, he insists it must be done in 10. If something takes 24 hours, he demands it be completed in 2. And if you ask him why he pressures others and forces his unnatural pace on everyone, his response is always the same: Things are better when you do them faster.
I don’t understand why anyone would think that way. In my view, everything is better when done slowly and mindfully.
Are you familiar with a natural pace of life?