Life and other pursuits
Sometimes life gets in the way…
We’ve just had kittens! Four of them. Mother and babies are doing fine and their extended pink family with can openers (that’s us) is very pleased to have them.
You know, my excuse for failing to do just about anything is usually werk, but this time I’m happy to say it’s life.
And time well spent – including having kittens, but not creating their own webpage. (Well, not yet, anyway!)
But going back to the concept of time, which was also very interestingly discussed both by Sis and Dystro in recent posts, I have two questions for you all.
Granted, they are not exactly newly sprung (in my mind at least), but I have been thinking about them a lot recently:
Is timing of the essence, i.e. is there such a thing as ‘the right time’ for everything (or some things) or do you think that where there is a will there is a way? (There! I’ve said it); and
Can you ever waste time?
No word limit. Discuss :-)
posted by Dimitra at 12:15 am
3 Comments:
Ok, let me give it a shot, for what it's worth...
a) On the "Rightness of time".
Yes, I do believe in the concept of the "right time" for many things, in the sense that there are some "points of discontinuity" in our lifes or the events around us that are beyond our control. These points are such that if something occurs before, at, or after these points, the result will probably be completely different. Usually the "at" part is the most intriguing.
Having said that, I would also argue that if one moves at "one level of abstraction higher", then one should be able to redefine him/herself, his/her goals, or even some of the circumstances surrounding him, and as a result the fact that in some case the "right time" may have passed can be reversible.
And if you think the above doesn't make much sense, wait 'till you read below :-)
b)On wasting time.
I have this theory that one's goal in life should be to accumulate experiences. Not in the sense of doing as many different things as possible, like bungee jumping, parachuting, deep-sea diving and tasting all exotic foods. But in the sense of making sure that who/what he/she feels he/she "is" at time "t1" and who/what he/she feels he/she "is" at time "t2" is not the same (without loss of generality we can assume that t2>t1). Small things like reading an interesting article, stopping to wonder what someone might be thinking, getting involved in something that you don't have to, or helping your cat have kittens (congrats! and well done to you and especially your cat. I've been there repeatedly...). So it is important that you make yourself open to such experiences, available, present. And also that you do not distract yourself with things that are completely empty of significance (various examples that you can surely fill in for yourself).
So given all the above, I would define a waste of time as not making oneself as receptive and open to experiences as one could. I guess what you could call "not living your life", not "seizing the day", not "being there".
That was it.
First, I love those kittens. Take care of them for us.
Second, "timing" has two meanings. It could be a matter of being "in the right place at the right time," which sounds a lot like fate to me, or it could be "timing" in the sense of good coordination, which is quite the opposite of fate.
I think I'll have to agree with Steph (hi Steph) and say that timing is of the essence -- because it is essentially a raw material with unlimited potential that we can use to our advantage in any number of ways (here is where the limits come in) or squander and later regret.
In short, t2 is greater, to a greater or lesser extent in each case, than t1, but being greater does not always mean feeling great(er).
P.S. De(e), thanks for revitalizing the blog. It'd been a while since it showed any signs of life!
The subject of time can be so fascinatingly provocative. I struggled to find some words(and time) to describe my thoughts, from a philosophical perspective..
Time has no meaning but that which is instilled by human ingenuity; it cannot be wasted, modified, or perhaps one could even argue, measured; it is an abstract concept which in itself is completely free and independent. I think when we speak of time we generally refer to our perception of time and that is something extremely malleable and vulnerable to our interpretations of life. What is the essence of time devoid of human culture, of human evolution? Infinite or none (zero) basically, incomprehensible. What is the meaning of time when it indicates the stages of aging? Ones perception of time then appears tangible and finite. Quiescence, inactivity can define time also. Think of music, some of the finest scores are those that ultimately capture a mere moment of silence. How long does that moment last? Sometimes forever.. A metaphor perhaps: Time is a stream; its course we cannot turn back or even alter, we can only catch what it brings our way.
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