February 23, 2007

Time

I think most people generally wear watches. We are consumed with time. "Time to make the donuts." They were funny ads in my youth, mostly because I could see how that was my future at the time. Eventually meeting myself walking in the door as I was walking out the door.

Time. It leaves us always wanting more. Often we find ourselves racing a clock. Cram more in, get to that meeting, race off to accomplish X by such a time.

A little over a month ago I took my watch off. I'm no longer consumed by time. This is not to say that I've forgotten time. But, time has much less pull on me that it has in the past. At first it felt weird at work not to have the heavy metal of my watch dragging on my arm. I've worn the same watch for about 10 years. A thick heavy chronograph. It's solid weight a comfort of the constant. Almost as a companion.

Time is something we inflict on ourselves. We lose patience and become angry over time. What time is it? Questing for that optimum balance. Some for me, some for you, some for the man, some for our friends in low places. Perhaps we even leave a few for father time as we get a few winks in. The human body requires eight hours of sleep a night. Most people average six. We don't leave enough time to renew ourselves. We wear down. We break down. We fail.

Join me in my experiment. Leave your watch on the nightstand for a few weeks. See how the quality of time changes in your life. Schedule less and do more. Be, instead of being on time. You are where you are, embrace it.

4 Comments:

At 10:16 AM, Blogger Still Searching... said...

I did that roughly ten years ago. I have several watches, but I don't wear them anymore. Instead, I listen to the rythyms my body and mind set out. The only unfortunate thing about that is, I seem to be on a different schedule altogether than the rest of the world.

I think I must be part vampire.
:-)

 
At 1:03 PM, Blogger Buffalo said...

The day I left on the ride-a-bout I pitched my watch just before I tapped Sweet Thing into first gear.

It was for ceremony only. I have a built in sence of time which usually allows me to know the correct time within 10 to 15 minutes - day or night.

 
At 2:08 PM, Blogger bikeandbeer said...

i average 10 hours of sleep a night. i guess i am lucky that i can do that. or maybe i should put it differently: if i don't sleep 10 hours i am a zombie and can't function. funny thing is, i do wear a watch but i am not controlled by it, as i wake up on my own (hate alarms!), arrive at work whenever i am ready, and leave when my work is done. still have time for exercise, fun, etc. but i have no concept of time unless i look at a watch to see how much time has passed. i tend to underestimate it. i should try not wearing one and see what happens... i bet i'll be late for everything that requires promptness!

 
At 12:50 PM, Blogger Annalis said...

I used to be driven by the clock and to some extent I am still am, but with cell phones and computers, etc. you certainly do not a watch to track time.

Nowdays, if I'm wearing a watch it's because I like the way it looks...

 

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