Time

I visit with Hospice patients and used to wonder if the hour a week I spent with them really made any difference. Then I realized all the things I did once a week for an hour that mattered to me--lunch with a friend, exercise class, taking a walk. It made me think very differently about that hour of time.

Now, I'm living temporarily in a house with a security system. When I enter I have 45 seconds to disarm the system, when I leave I have 45 seconds from when I set the system to lock the door. I am in a constant state of panic! Walking up to the house I get my keys ready, balance the things I'm carrying, open the door, drop everything and run to the panel to punch in the code. On the way out in the morning, the same routine...have everything ready, put in the code and race to the door. I KNOW I am way over-reacting to this and I think, if I had not been told how long I had, I would be handling things much better. Knowing the clock is ticking creates such stress. In contrast, when I exercise I sometimes do a "plank" and holding that position for 45 seconds can seem an eternity! How can the same amount of time feel so different?

I have a new book, A Geography of Time, which looks at how the meaning and use of time varies across cultures. I haven't started it yet, but maybe it will help me reset my time clock to a more reasonable pace.