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1	Strolling to the beat of another drum : living the 'Slow Life' Zeestraten, J. January 2008 (has links) As the pace of life in contemporary Western society accelerates, an increasing number of people are engaging in an alternative lifestyle: ‘Slow Living’. Although popular in the media, Slow Living, which addresses issues of quality of life, is a relatively new area of academic enquiry. Given a lack of empirical research, especially on the realities of the Slow Life in a New Zealand context, this ethnographic study aims to augment the knowledge on this lifestyle by focusing on how families experience Slow Living. The key research question is: How do families live their interpretations of a Slow Life? To answer this question, this study examined the everyday lives of five Slow Living families in Canterbury, New Zealand. Adult family members were given a time-use diary to complete over two days. These diaries were then used as a foundation for in-depth interviews and participant observation. Slow Living families hold to a number of personal values, such as personal agency, conscious living and leading meaningful lives. These comprise their ideal way of living. The families are also faced with a number of challenges and have to employ strategies to balance their ideal and what is possible. The different ways families adapt produces a variety of Slow Living lifestyles. Slow Living lifestyles quality of life time-use families ethnography personal agency conscious living meaningful living New Zealand Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs pace of life Canterbury values challenges strategies practices

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Strolling to the beat of another drum : living the 'Slow Life'