I thought this was truly beautiful, and reflective of a central theme in a favourite book of mine: 4000 Weeks (Time Management for Mortals), by Oliver Burkeman. Namely, that your time need not be productive in order to be well spent. In fact, in a very real sense, we do not *have* time at all - we merely borrow it, and we know not how much there will be. Thus, time is not a thing to be used, allocated, spent - wisely, poorly, productively, frivolously, or otherwise. Rather, we *are* time, and the only real goal - if there were one at all - is to fully experience that time, to *be* that time, in the broadest sense.
Cultural norms, particularly in the USA, commodify and package time, making it hard for us to break with the feeling that we should be constantly optimizing our time, cramming more work, exercise, or conscious “downtime” into the daily and weekly spans we have available. But I’m slowly learning that this is a deep and harmful error. Chasing time - like pursuing happiness - merely makes us anxious, convinced that if only we could do or possess that one more thing, we will finally feel fulfilled and happy. But happiness is now. And there is no time but now.
So forget carpe diem - we don’t need to seize the day. We need to let the day, and ourselves, be.
Thank you for your continued insights, Ashley. Loving these.
I thought this was truly beautiful, and reflective of a central theme in a favourite book of mine: 4000 Weeks (Time Management for Mortals), by Oliver Burkeman. Namely, that your time need not be productive in order to be well spent. In fact, in a very real sense, we do not *have* time at all - we merely borrow it, and we know not how much there will be. Thus, time is not a thing to be used, allocated, spent - wisely, poorly, productively, frivolously, or otherwise. Rather, we *are* time, and the only real goal - if there were one at all - is to fully experience that time, to *be* that time, in the broadest sense.
Cultural norms, particularly in the USA, commodify and package time, making it hard for us to break with the feeling that we should be constantly optimizing our time, cramming more work, exercise, or conscious “downtime” into the daily and weekly spans we have available. But I’m slowly learning that this is a deep and harmful error. Chasing time - like pursuing happiness - merely makes us anxious, convinced that if only we could do or possess that one more thing, we will finally feel fulfilled and happy. But happiness is now. And there is no time but now.
So forget carpe diem - we don’t need to seize the day. We need to let the day, and ourselves, be.
Thank you for your continued insights, Ashley. Loving these.