Time Spent

Saanich Farmland, October 2012

Tension and release are natural in all life but when the rhythms of the cycle are knocked askew, internal and external environments are impacted and it may take a conscious effort to initiate the release. 

Many of us have changed the way we live. We've added a step. In times gone by, we worked to produce that which we require for survival and enjoyment. There were fewer middle men and that which we did not, or could not, produce, we traded with our neighbours. If we wanted food we worked the land, cared for the animals and we fished. I know this was not easy. All daylight hours were spent in toil but evenings were spent in a certain quietude and peace that I think we may have forgone for the pursuit of others lives on TV and through the computer. This is not a judgement, merely an observation.

Now, we go to work to make the money to buy that which we need and desire. That which we desire often outweighs our needs and income so, in order to buy more we work more, decreasing the amount of leisure time available to simply enjoy life and that for which we toil.

I am trying to be more cognizant of the difference between need and desire and to be clear of the motivation behind the desire. I'm not saying desire is bad - not a chance! I want to be more aware. I want to be more present in the decisions I make around time. Perhaps it is a result of the amount of time I have already seen go by but I have realized that time, and the way I spend it, is what I most value. 

"There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy." -Ralph H. Blum

-Gillian Cornwall, November 18, 2012.