Time Travel
Why the rush? Our culture hurts time by attempting to breeze through it rather than savor it.
Life is a nanosecond. Yet, many here in the United States believe that time isn’t going fast enough. I don’t know how individuals from other countries perceive time, but too many Americans feel that the hours, minutes, and seconds flow too slowly for their taste. They are used to “killing time,” rather than honoring it.
In fact, I wonder if people who want to rush time fully appreciate life.
Take America’s addiction to rushing through holidays, for example. No sooner is a holiday over, then people have the next one in their sights. When my daughter was quite young, she once asked me in May why Independence Day decorations were available in stores so early. I told her, “America is focused on holidays, and we worship one holiday after another.” I gave her the same answer years later when she asked why our neighbors had Halloween decorations in their yard in August.
Now I’m not trying to rain on anyone’s parade. If it makes someone feel better to have decorations well before holidays, so be it. Yet Americans’ eagerness to rush from one holiday to another can interfere with their ability to “just be.”
Now that the holiday season, which includes Thanksgiving, Kwanzaa, Christmas, Chanukah, and New Year’s, among others, is rushing upon us, I realize that I’ve already got holiday fatigue.
It’s no wonder why I’m averse to the expression “killing time,” which cheers on accelerating time at a lightning speed. Why should we kill time? Time is a precious commodity, and each sand in the hourglass is just as equal in value as the others.
The alternative to rushing time is to slow it down through moments of quiet reflection and appreciation of the intangible presents bestowed on us – our inner presence, the gift of living one’s best life, the beauty of nature, and so on.
Art Time
Creating art encourages time travel in a different, magical way. I have found that the way we typically tell time – by a measuring implement such as a clock – is different when one is creating art. Time is still not rushed but savored. In fact, whenever I create art; time constraints fall away entirely, and I am immersed in flow. I savor getting lost in the painting and losing track of time.
The graphite sketch below is based on a reference photo of me holding my daughter when she was really young. As I sketched, I didn’t rush time; instead, I savored it and felt relaxed. I named the sketch Mother and Child Reunion.
Beautiful, Beth! As a time traveler myself (see: edgeofyesterdaybooks.com) I have delved into many of times mysteries on the physical, fictional, spiritual and quantum levels. And as a writer, I love the magic of experiencing flow (and, by contrast, the agony when words—and time— do not flow but seem rather to stall out. Which, in turn, is its own experience).
My mother was a fine artist and she was never more herself than those moments in her studio when painting and perfecting. It was a joy to hear her wax on about “losing” herself to the Muse. I appreciate your Mother and Child drawing—Mom left many sketches and drawings of me, but never of her holding me. Now that she is 7 years gone, I would have treasured that. What a gift!
Oh, how I agree with you, Beth!. Time is relentless. It doesn't stop for our convenience. We learn how to capture moments with photos and art. But when we are living with illness that will eventually take us, time takes on a new meaning. Boy, do I appreciate every moment I have now! It's a beautiful silver lining to my cancer cloud.