Time

This post is almost a direct contradiction to yesterday's. Yesterday I was in favor of keeping a routine dictated by my job and being more efficient with my time. There is some truth to what I said about procrastination but I really, truly, love "slow time." Slow time is when things happen at their own speed: the ripening of a tomato, the changing of the seasons, the growth of a child. You can't push slow time but nowadays we've found ways to circumvent it: getting tomatoes at the supermarket any time of year is one glaring example, as is the 9 to 5 workday. I feel fortunate that our simplified lifestyle allows us to linger in slow time perhaps more than others have the luxury to do. Yet, I am torn about how much I need to devote to fast time.

I feel this pull from time quite often. As a teacher I have enjoyed summers free from "work" in the typical sense. I generally don't have anywhere I need to be at any given time. I garden, cook, take long bike rides, harvest, can, read--for pleasure (gasp!). I wake up when my body tells me to and do the same when it's time for bed. The rhythm of the day is slow and things happen in a more natural way. The rest of the year I juggle different responsibilities both personally and professionally and crave the desire for slow time. 

Sharon Astyk, author of several books, including Depletion and Abundance wrote this post about slow and fast time. I highly recommend reading it, as she eloquently describes both notions of time and finding the balance in our everyday lives. I felt better after reading it and maybe you just might, too.