Last March I went on a three-night solo retreat and the first thing I did when I arrived at my Airbnb was cover all the clocks. It was a brief experiment of living in "stretchy time" (a phrase I believe I first heard from Hadassah Damien), and it was wonderful and illuminating and also somehow made me sad?
Which is to say that you and I are reading the same books this year and thinking about the same things, it seems, and I love that. It makes me feel less alone in my ???? of time/existence/morality/everything.
Without our “measurement” of time, what would we use? I assume the sun- light or lack thereof. I think time as we know it was established because there are so very many of us, in addition to the reasons you mentioned. Time is tyrannical, or it can be when wielded to control our movements. I agree on that. I suppose an alternative measure would be our stomachs? Our throats? Rather, the needs of our bodies. I may not feel the need to sleep if I were not meant to be up tomorrow. I would feel the need to eat if my stomach growled at me. When asleep my sense of time simply ceases to exist; I can dream a lifetime away and forget it before waking up.
What about a dog? A bird? A dog knows when meal time is. A bird knows when to fly south and when to come back north. Are those needs / drives concepts of “time” to them? Or simply reactions to their other senses? Wait… we talk about “sense of time” like time is tangible. But a sense of time is really just a feel for rhythm, in a way. My sense of self may differ day to day, and if I’m a different version of myself today than yesterday, is that an alternate measure of time? What other so called senses do we possess and use (or possess and neglect)?
I don’t expect answers by the way, at least not on any schedule :) thanks for sharing, as always! I appreciate the work you’re doing. These are always good food for thought.
I think about time so often, as well -- and have come to hold an abundance of it as one of my most important values, more than a big income or anything else. In losing so much of my income over the last year, I have gained an abundance of time, and the trade-off has felt freeing. Less to spend on things, more to spend on just being where I am. Yet I agree that Sundays still hold that grief and tension of re-entering the constraints of time we've been taught to follow and value. Orienting away from the tracking of time we've been sewn up in is an ongoing practice. I appreciate this meditation on time so much <3
"The good thing about nets is that they have holes. I’ve been trying to find one to slip through."
I love this. Maybe we can all cut a few strands to open more holes on our way out.
Rather than burden you with a long comment, I'll just wave a ✊🏽 in your direction before I head out onto my porch in the fading sunlight and read a bit more of Saving Time myself. I absolutely love Jenny Odell's take on the world.
growing up with a dad as a pastor who took mondays off, Sundays did not feel like a day of rest but the ultimate day of work and performance so i feel like i’ve always been skeptical of the calendar and it’s illusions. but it’s also difficult to deny the collective energy i feel in the air on weekends that insists i stop working. it’s the same reason i get depressed on a friday night if there are no plans on deck but feel perfectly content sitting at home alone on a thursday night. i hate pretty much every story we tell about time which is why i no longer limit my portrait sessions to a set amount. an hour? what is that?! just give me as long as it takes. if there wasn’t sunset or a need for sleep i’d probably ask for even more.
After several years in both survival mode after developmental trauma + shock trauma mixed in with my time in the shiny entrepreneurship landscape focusing on material abundance or the acquisition of things (not limited to just objects, but praise from “notable experts” etc) to create safety in my life (helpful until basic and accommodation needs are met and beauty and glimmers are present IMO), I keep orienting to time abundance as the real sense of freedom and what I feel is most healing for me in terms of cultivating. This piece echo’ed a lot of my private musings and I really enjoyed being seen as well in your own process! Thank you. 😊
This is such a profound piece, and while everything is still settling, I can't help but rethink how I have looked at time my entire life, and how it has impacted a lot around me, and on the extreme, even driving me to depressive states. Thank you for such a wonderful, thought-provoking piece!
Loved reading this. I read Odell's "How to do Nothing" last year, and it had such an impact on me, that I assigned the original article for my students to read -- impressing upon them to slow down and that they are not in competition with each other. I'm looking forward to reading Odell's new book
I’m going through your backlogs and honestly this one is so important to me in my current place of mind. I just left my rigorous and physical job or running a bakery after six years, and my concept of time is really changing on me. But my worth does not have to be wrapped up in time, just like my work, just like you have written.
I’m taking time off, and instead of trying to fill in the gap immediately, I have no agenda for the first time in over a decade. No one is judging me the way that I am judging me, and reading your works has really helped me understand that there is no time wasted :) and I’m ever learning to trust myself that things are, at present, lovely and fine, as they almost always are.
Last March I went on a three-night solo retreat and the first thing I did when I arrived at my Airbnb was cover all the clocks. It was a brief experiment of living in "stretchy time" (a phrase I believe I first heard from Hadassah Damien), and it was wonderful and illuminating and also somehow made me sad?
Which is to say that you and I are reading the same books this year and thinking about the same things, it seems, and I love that. It makes me feel less alone in my ???? of time/existence/morality/everything.
Without our “measurement” of time, what would we use? I assume the sun- light or lack thereof. I think time as we know it was established because there are so very many of us, in addition to the reasons you mentioned. Time is tyrannical, or it can be when wielded to control our movements. I agree on that. I suppose an alternative measure would be our stomachs? Our throats? Rather, the needs of our bodies. I may not feel the need to sleep if I were not meant to be up tomorrow. I would feel the need to eat if my stomach growled at me. When asleep my sense of time simply ceases to exist; I can dream a lifetime away and forget it before waking up.
What about a dog? A bird? A dog knows when meal time is. A bird knows when to fly south and when to come back north. Are those needs / drives concepts of “time” to them? Or simply reactions to their other senses? Wait… we talk about “sense of time” like time is tangible. But a sense of time is really just a feel for rhythm, in a way. My sense of self may differ day to day, and if I’m a different version of myself today than yesterday, is that an alternate measure of time? What other so called senses do we possess and use (or possess and neglect)?
I don’t expect answers by the way, at least not on any schedule :) thanks for sharing, as always! I appreciate the work you’re doing. These are always good food for thought.
There’s no schedule. There’s no schedule. There’s no schedule. 💆
I think about time so often, as well -- and have come to hold an abundance of it as one of my most important values, more than a big income or anything else. In losing so much of my income over the last year, I have gained an abundance of time, and the trade-off has felt freeing. Less to spend on things, more to spend on just being where I am. Yet I agree that Sundays still hold that grief and tension of re-entering the constraints of time we've been taught to follow and value. Orienting away from the tracking of time we've been sewn up in is an ongoing practice. I appreciate this meditation on time so much <3
"The good thing about nets is that they have holes. I’ve been trying to find one to slip through."
I love this. Maybe we can all cut a few strands to open more holes on our way out.
Rather than burden you with a long comment, I'll just wave a ✊🏽 in your direction before I head out onto my porch in the fading sunlight and read a bit more of Saving Time myself. I absolutely love Jenny Odell's take on the world.
“...even empty fabrications have control”
growing up with a dad as a pastor who took mondays off, Sundays did not feel like a day of rest but the ultimate day of work and performance so i feel like i’ve always been skeptical of the calendar and it’s illusions. but it’s also difficult to deny the collective energy i feel in the air on weekends that insists i stop working. it’s the same reason i get depressed on a friday night if there are no plans on deck but feel perfectly content sitting at home alone on a thursday night. i hate pretty much every story we tell about time which is why i no longer limit my portrait sessions to a set amount. an hour? what is that?! just give me as long as it takes. if there wasn’t sunset or a need for sleep i’d probably ask for even more.
Sunday funday! And the only day you can listen to Sunday morning by John Mayer. And the best day to listen to banana pancakes by jack.
I can hear the sound of the plastic book of tapes opening. 90s asmr.
After several years in both survival mode after developmental trauma + shock trauma mixed in with my time in the shiny entrepreneurship landscape focusing on material abundance or the acquisition of things (not limited to just objects, but praise from “notable experts” etc) to create safety in my life (helpful until basic and accommodation needs are met and beauty and glimmers are present IMO), I keep orienting to time abundance as the real sense of freedom and what I feel is most healing for me in terms of cultivating. This piece echo’ed a lot of my private musings and I really enjoyed being seen as well in your own process! Thank you. 😊
I think about this often. How arbitrary it all is and her how much of this invisible concept dictates how we spend most of our lives.
I’m also reading saving time and just the introduction had my head spinning! so good
This is such a profound piece, and while everything is still settling, I can't help but rethink how I have looked at time my entire life, and how it has impacted a lot around me, and on the extreme, even driving me to depressive states. Thank you for such a wonderful, thought-provoking piece!
Loved reading this. I read Odell's "How to do Nothing" last year, and it had such an impact on me, that I assigned the original article for my students to read -- impressing upon them to slow down and that they are not in competition with each other. I'm looking forward to reading Odell's new book
I’m going through your backlogs and honestly this one is so important to me in my current place of mind. I just left my rigorous and physical job or running a bakery after six years, and my concept of time is really changing on me. But my worth does not have to be wrapped up in time, just like my work, just like you have written.
I’m taking time off, and instead of trying to fill in the gap immediately, I have no agenda for the first time in over a decade. No one is judging me the way that I am judging me, and reading your works has really helped me understand that there is no time wasted :) and I’m ever learning to trust myself that things are, at present, lovely and fine, as they almost always are.
A toast to changing perspective!
Xx