We're running out of time.
In one way quite literally, since we're all moving towards the end of
our lives, every day a little bit closer. But in another way the
growing sense of acceleration and the resulting stress is an illusion
that we have created ourselves and that we keep fuelling with our
modern 'civilised' lifestyle.
When did time begin to run
out? I've asked this question a few friends and most assumed that it
all started to go downhill during the industrial revolution. But an
article I've recently read (in FLOW magazine #10) suggests that the
all-too-familiar feeling of 'lack of time' began already 500 years
before the first factories were built. Here's what happened: At some
point in the middle ages, clocks started to appear in public places,
especially on towers. Suddenly everyone always knew the exact time
and everything was organized according to the new pulse of life: the
ticking beat of the clock. Tick tock, tick tock.
Before the arrival of this
controlling beat people used more organic measurements of time.
“Let's meet in the morning after we've taken the cows to the
field.” There was much more flexibility which meant that you had no
reason to get stressed just because you might be ten minutes late.
There was less pressure to be on time and so you had more freedom to
enjoy beautiful moments (which tend to appear spontaneously, ie. unscheduled). The
sun and the stars provided all the guidance – no clocks, just
blowing wind and beating hearts. Almost like a timeless paradise.
I guess those romantic
days are long gone. Nowadays it's important to know the time, and to
be on time – it almost seems like a matter of survival. The generous rhythm
of nature has been replaced by the tight rhythm of the clock. And wherever
we are, whatever we do, we hear it ticking, the clock. Tick tock.
Tick tock.
Perhaps with fewer clocks
we'd have more time again.
Listening less to the constant ticking.
Focusing more on simply being.
