Age Of Enlightenment

The more information we receive, the more we crave. But this doesn't mean we should crave the bad stuff. It simply means we need to be more selective.

This phenomenon is liberating: as long as we slow it down with slow media.

Aaahh, isn't this nice:

This prediction is about a world where we can enjoy the scenery from the slow lane, and not get bogged down in the fast media of yesterday. The one with endless “breaking news” about things that don't necessarily matter to the next evolution of humanity.

Rise up to a higher vibration.

Seek slow media. Create context. Make more meaning of it all.

So here are seven “E's” and a few Examples to better understand the serendipitous nature of slow media:

1. Empathy

Radio Shack wins the empathy award due to nostalgia, with their 80s ad. Why?

Radio Shack is the company that forever wears a bad mullet. 

We poke fun, and cringe at the sight of Radio Shack's outdated look every time we see the store (wherever they're still in existence, these days).

But because they shared the bad haircut experience with us, we forgive them. Radio Shack embraced their outdated brand with empathy – and collectively made us laugh, think, and remember the past in a positive way. That's always a win.

2. Emotion 

If your heart doesn't swell with cute overload for this Budweiser commercial, then go back to your Bieber watching. There's so much emotion in this video. From the Passenger lyrics, to the cinematography, to the simple storyline – it's a slow ceremony for your senses.  And it should make your heart swell. (if not, you're possibly made of stone).

3. Enchantment

The term “enchantment” can sound a bit woo-woo. And it's a word that's similar to storytelling because it's an amorphous word, and needs more strategic grounding. But once you get grounded with the word,  you'll see why enchantment is so important in business – and why the fantasy treehouse pictured above is so freeing to look at.

The Disney Renaissance did enchantment best. The stories that were created during this era induced a sense of wonder and delight. Enchantment is what makes characters and stories came alive. You can picture people in the treehouse, settling into stories. And surrounded by magic.

Enchantment is an essential tool for storytelling. It's the secret sauce because, whether you realize it or not, it's how you relate to the human experience. And it's why you have conversations about the human experience.

Guy Kawasaki believes “Enchantment converts hostility into civility and civility into affinity. It changes the skeptics and cynics into the believers and the undecided into the loyal.” I agree.

It's this powerful – because of its transhuman and transcendental nature. Enchantment is what will help greatly enhance the human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities of tomorrow. When you work enchantment into the stories that you tell, your substance shows. {click to tweet!}

4. Expansion

The information available on the internet is expanding in a holistic sense. But it’s also getting smaller with personalized niches, communities, and conversations. Our focuses and interests become more finely honed at a granular level. But expansive at the same time. (are you still with me?)

Take a look at how Facebook has expanded over the last 10 years. You have access to people who you have known throughout your entire life at your fingertips. Which is why you may be one of the many users unhappy with information overload. But when you figure out how to impose some coherence and structure around the rich experience of the Internet as a whole, you make room to expand.

Whether you create order by joining groups, communities, creating lists, or simply tuning out – it's entirely up to you. This rich, expansive experience of the Internet is a new direction for human effort and thought. And we must approach it with a deep awareness, kindness, intuition, and clarity.

Because there's no going back (unless you're Radio Shack).

5. Enlightenment

Knowledge is everywhere. And the evolutionary change that is advancing the human world is irresistible. Enlightenment happens when you have deep understanding, awareness, and knowledge.

Enlightenment is how we achieve a higher state of consciousness. And it's how humanity evolves. But it's extremely powerful:

“Enlightenment is a destructive process. It has nothing to do with becoming better or being happier. Enlightenment is the crumbling away of untruth. It’s seeing through the facade of pretense. It’s the complete eradication of everything we imagined to be true.”  – Adyashanti

What does enlightenment have to do with slow media of tomorrow? Enlightenment places extraordinary power on the state of the human mind – and its imagination. The human mind bristles with contradictions and paradoxes. And enlightenment helps us embrace these paradoxes and explore more meaningful experiences.

Express the profundities of these paradoxes. Show your expertise. It's a new way for you to create the new world.

6. Epiphany

An epiphany is a moment of sudden revelation or profound insight. How do you feel after watching a TED talk? Or when you read a good book? Or watch a mind expanding documentary? Do you experience an epiphany? Yes. Slow media creates epiphanies. And epiphanies are good.

As I explain in this video, slow media makes you laugh, think, and question the status quo. It's exploring new ways of thinking, and it slowly helps you to….

7. Evolve

When you listen and explore to the vast conversations that are happening in the world (due to the rise of slow media), you evolve. You nurture your well-being, and you illuminate a deeper, higher consciousness. This is the evolution of humanity. And it's happening right now. Do you want to take part?