It's About Time

Time is something that plays a huge role in all of our lives. “I have no time,” “I am running out of time,” “what time is it, anyway?” Before launching into a conversation we often say, “do you have a minute?” as though time can somehow be owned. Time has been referred to as an illusion. It is elusive, and it is perceived differently by everyone.

In my thirties I was a successful business woman, always on the run, always in a hurry. I had an assistant who had to remind me to pee. At the time (there's that word again) I was under the illusion that the busier I was, the better I was. I often felt annoyed at people who wasted my time – "my time" - as though I alone owned it and there were rules as to how it should be used. Can we even “use” time? Anyway, those who showed up really late to appointments were often new Canadians. I would mutter to myself that they had no respect.

After spending extended periods of time in Africa and India however, I began to understand: In the developing world most people are too poor to own watches or clocks. Without clocks, time has no meaning. If someone in rural India or Africa says they will come and see you at 2pm tomorrow…what they mean is, tomorrow I will go to the bus station and catch a rickety old bus that will not leave the station until it is full. Then, when it leaves the station three hours later, I will hope that it does not break down, as it often does. If I arrive at your house before supper, that would be a victory! Making an appointment for a specific time just cannot be done in many places, and it would in fact be completely unreasonable. Outside the resorts, no one is in a hurry in the developing world. After three trips around the world, and extended stays in many developing nations, I am finally learning to not be in such a hurry. I have learned to accept delays, go with the flow, and be flexible - all things tremendously important when renovating a house.

We are a full month into our renovation and have not yet finished framing and wiring. My contractor, who promised me every other week, does not seem to know the concept of a full work week. Week one he worked 28 hours, and then he was gone for a week. Week two he was here less than two days and now he is gone again for a week. Needless to say, we are way behind schedule.

Stephane and I were talking the other day about how we felt to be back home, and I said to him that since we have been home, with the exception of a few visits with friends, our entire time has been spent on the buying, building, cleaning, and maintaining of "things". There is no time for experiences outside of buying, building, cleaning... That is the reality of ownership. We work hard, often at jobs we do not like, so we can... buy, build, clean, and maintain ever more things. That’s not to say I regret home or car ownership – these things are luxuries for which I am grateful, however, as I get older, I see some futility in the endless hamster wheel run of buying, building...

As I write this - I am having another sleepless night. It is 4 am - an ungodly hour to be up - and I am missing the strange world where it took us two hours to buy lettuce. The places where we had time to just “be.” Where listening to the waves was a legitimate past time.