Part 1. Definition. Downshifting – the deliberate change in the way of life in which you're less stressed, having more free time, and you agree, in a way that will own fewer things. Downshifting has become popular among the middle class in the 90 years of 20 century, especially among those people who have worked so much that they could not relax and have fun. Dictionary of the English language and culture.
Publisher Longman (England) 2005. Word formed from the English word down, which means down, and shifting, which means the offset. By this definition should be added that his popularity has evolved in the 90 years among middle-class Britain and America. And I want to talk about this phenomenon as a cultural phenomenon. For those who see this phenomenon for the first time, it seems unclear what kind of course – the name of a foreign, strange motives, behaviors are unacceptable. In short, another "western oddity," should not be have no place in our Russian reality.
And, though I consider myself a Russian (or Russian citizen, whatever), I am very sympathetic to this way of life. Background. While talking about Downshifting recently, he is a phenomenon has been around for 17 centuries. At least one of the first known daunshifterov were Roman emperors Diocletian and Maximian. Diocletian brought the Roman Empire from the crisis by making huge amount of change, and height of his fame retired from the board in his palace in Split. They tried to return, as they recreated the empire started to fall apart again.