Time and tide

Bus shelter at Queen's Gate

This morning I noted that I am no longer setting aside time to be mindful. I have reverted to older and more intellectual patterns of being and doing.

The following mis-quote came to mind:

“By their actions shall you know them.” (based on Matthew 7:16).

This prompted a rewrite:

“If you would know what a person values then observe on what they spend their time.”

BUT - this does not apply to wage slaves or to other forms of slave labour.

Most ‘civilised’ people have their daily routines planned for them by higher authorities. The process begins with feeding by the clock and leads on to formal schooling which exposes children to twelve years of the 40 minute bell.

There is a bus stop outside my bedroom window. In term time the school kids gather there to catch the school bus at 8:32. Fifty years ago I used to regularly catch that same bus. Are school kids happy to “spend their time” in that way. Do they have options?

After school, ‘civilised’ people get a job where their productivity is monitored and they have their cards stamped by a time clock. A regular 9 to 5. The busy-ness business. “No time to stand and stare.”

When I was an actual school teacher I was domineered by the bell and there was very little time for slacking. When I was an office wally (education advisor) I had to turn up and leave at the appointed times but otherwise I was free to structure my own days which involved multiple meetings. When I was a freelance editor the work came in droughts and floods where the time to stand and stare existed but was a movable feast.

Now that I am retired I could set aside more time to be mindful. Will ‘I’? What would be the roots of the intention?

Some more quotes:

"Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that." (George Carlin)

"I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar." (Robert Brault)

"Time has been transformed, and we have changed; it has advanced and set us in motion; it has unveiled its face, inspiring us with bewilderment and exhilaration." (Khalil Gibran) (?)