Savoring Time
What would happen if, instead of seeking to save time, we instead choose to savor it? This idea, and this languaging, is not of my own inspiration – although I can’t seem to find who to attribute it to. But the words have been rolling around in my head lately, passing into and out of focus like an object on the edge of mirage.
A quick bit of online research explains that the concept of time as we know it, live by it, are slave to it – is relatively recent. Even when the first “time-keeping” devices (interesting phrase, that) were created in the form of sundials and then hourglasses, most regular folks – if they needed to – just looked at the angle of the sun in the sky. I came across a fascinating and detailed article about the evolution of time over, well, time on the Mathematical Association of America website. I highly recommend it…when you’ve got some (ahem) time, on your hands.
We (at least “we” as in Western society) tend to put a considerable emphasis on time: its importance, its value, its seemingly constant scarcity. Exhibit A: a sampling of familiar sayings…
Stop wasting time.
Time is on my side.
I just don’t have time.
Time is money.
No time like the present.
Time and tide wait for no man (admittedly, a favorite).
It’s possible that just reading these words bumps up the heart rate a bit, causes a flush of heat to the skin, or perhaps a tightness in the shoulders, neck, or chest. (Can you take the “time” to notice these sensations?) There’s no doubt about it: our notions around time stress us out; they are a source of suffering.
Even in yoga class, where so many say they go to “de-stress,” students’ concerns about time can be palpable. This class is only an hour; why am I just lying here? When are we going to start moving? Even if a student is actually lying still, there are often signs that they haven’t been able to fully take up the invitation to “inhabit the pause.” Often it’s a rigidity in the physical body or jaw, or the eyes are flicking around the room (or worse yet staring intently at the teacher).
A thought: which phrase are you more likely to use in response to the question, “What did you do today?” I spent some time on the garden -or- I gave some time to the garden? Either way, you’re in the garden. The former – of course – connotes a quantitative value…like we spend money. The latter – perhaps – lends itself to a more qualitative valuing of the time. Either way, the value is there.
And yet…something feels different, like the difference between “save” and “savor,” the two words we opened with. We can choose the savoring approach; we can choose to practice “right understanding” (or “wise view”). When the Buddha taught the spokes of the wheel that form the Noble Eightfold Path, he explained that suffering is intertwined with the way we perceive things. From the Dhammapada, a collection of the Buddha’s teachings (of which there are many translations):
Our life is shaped by our mind. All questions are led by mind.
Dukha (suffering) follows an unskillful thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draw it.
Sukha (ease) follows a skillful thought as surely as one’s own shadow.
Returning to the idea of time and how we might better approach it, when we choose to go the savoring route, it grounds us in the present moment. It allows for an appreciation of each precious moment, without attachment to what came before or what’s happening next or whether we like or don’t like. This is how it is now. Savor it.
I’m not saying it’s easy. But that’s why they call it practice. Thanks for taking the “time” to read this; now maybe go give some time to your garden.
Thyme really is on your side.