Can you count the ways we discuss the passage of time? “Time flies when you’re having fun”, “in the blink of an eye” are but two expressions that pop up. There are countless. Some of us look at wrist watches, some live in the moment, others watch the sun slide across the sky. For each and everyone one of us it is a theme that is ever present.
There are a few reasons that time is on my mind. Recently my four year old asked me about time going by. Explaining the concept of it being relative, especially to perception and experience, was a trip! I got her to think about our truck rides into town. First you have the walk and then the wait. When we finally climb into the cab and the ride begins we have at least two hours until we get to town. I mentioned that at times it seems like a quick spin trough and down the mountains. Others you can perceive every bump and twist and turn.
I could tell that on one level she understood, but yet again her young mind still needs to wrap around this one. Even for myself, having completed recently my 39th year, find time something of a mystery. One that I admit I am ready to experience and not analyze too deeply.
As a child I went through a classical North American upbringing with preschool, Sesame Street and elementary school. I learnt my numbers and the days of the week. I grew to grasp now, later, before. My sense of time stretching ever further into the past and present with memories and wishes. The true weave and ways of the passage of time comes, in my opinion, with wisdom. Sure, as a student I had instances like those sitting at a desk during exam times; when the seconds ticked past like a bullet train. Or when time felt slower than a snail waiting in line for the movie theater to open to see a long-awaited sequel. But it is now as an adult, a mother and an entrepreneur I have learnt the value of time.
As a person who is self-employed and as an artist I had to allow myself to place a sort of concrete value to my own time spent. When you work for another and receive a wage you can place a worth on your time spent doing a job. This is not the measure of our worth, usually. Working for oneself you can easily place a price on a finished product but to include your time? This is a skill that requires thought. As a mother I have felt time slipping by seeing my child double in size both in the womb and without. Before long she will be an adult herself. Being wiser than my child-self and even more so than my adolescent-self I have an appreciation for the passage of days and years.
Today marks the fifth year since signing for the land on which stands our home. The property where we have regenerated the soil and grown trees and plants. The place where my baby learnt to walk and run and jump. Being in tropical Peru close to the Equator, I no longer experience a year in seasons. One day blends into the other. Especially now in our current climate crisis there are no seasons. There are days. Days to plant and days to clean, moments to learn and dream. Time for me has slowed in some ways and sped up in others. As it has always done.
What changed while living on a medicinal plant farm is harried sense of time slipping away. On a farm and with homeschooling time wasted is not possible. If you spend your time unwisely you quickly see the results or more aptly lack thereof. I am still learning and adapting when needed. Thankfully I still have a many sunsets and moonrises to go to yet again change my perceptions of time.💜
Esencia Adaptivore 