Time

Hi there,

It is funny how we go from one chapter in our lives to another. I feel like we live for the moments where the switch from one point in our life takes place to another. For example. Alex is at his Spring break point. In other words his last day of school was Friday and today he's going to Bangkok Dolphins Swimming Camp for a week. So he's switching from one daily routine to another. Nancy is also transitioning from one job to another and I have just finished Book 1 and am now preparing for my vacation(s). There is even a countdown on this blog for when Book 1 goes to a publisher.

Time is an odd thing. I am continuously aware how long we've lived in Bangkok (2yrs), how long ago I started writing the book (5mnths) and how long we've been in the new year already (4mnths). Then I realize I've been writing this blog for 75 posts, have 2 days left before I go to Malaysia, where I'll stay 5 days before I come back, after which it will be 2,5 wks before we go to the US. Aaaargghh. Is really our lives just a summation of time blocks?

The most common expression about time is: 'I have/had no time for/to...', which always struck me as funny. Because don't we all possess the same amount of time? Don't we all have 24 hours a day in which we choose to employ one activity or another. My belief is that we don't not have time to do this or that, but rather we choose not to spend time doing this or that. And it's not even a conscious decision either often. Our society is so polluted with attention grabbing stimuli that we often feel overwhelmed and then browse very discriminatingly in order to keep our heads above water. What does that say about our society? Are we all white rabbits running around with a pocket watch (or cellphone glued to our ear) saying: 'I'm late. No time. No time'?

My point being that time plays such a factor in our lives that simply doing nothing for a moment or slowing down, instantly has a bad association we don't want to be associated with. So we partition our activities into time blocks and we run on automatic from one to another. We stop enjoying every moment in life, we run through life for the sake of... running. Where Book 1 in Simon & Sally is indirectly about matter (space) and the abuse (greed & deforestation) upon it, Book 2 will address the relationship between space and time and the abuse upon that (plunder of resources & hate). Book 3 then will singularly address time and the what happens when we get disconnected from it (pollution & sloth). If you think these are too heavy topics, don't worry: it's heavily marinated with fictitious events, places and characters.

I'm going to spend some time now not thinking about the books.