Ironically I'm struggling to find the time to write this blog post!
I once wept uncontrollably trying to convince a man(-boy) that time does not exist- but is a man-made concept as he looked at me blankly, clearly puzzled by my mad ravings (he ended the affair a few days later!)
And yet- as hard `as it is to believe in this compartmentalised and quantified world- that shows the passing of itself daily- we all know those moments that last for ever- the slow motion fall to the fall- the ripping out of a heart- the last 5 minutes of class on a Friday afternoon- and those moments that flash forward- amazing weekends gone in the blink of an eye- holidays that disappear in a breath- nights that seem to end before your head even hits the pillow…Time is relative and therefore it is our duty to be conscious keepers of our time if we are not to become slaves of it…
Hard in a world that is constantly pushing us to be hyper-productive- have our millions made before 30- know what we want to be in the world before we leave high school and make sure we have life insurance and pension plans and mortgages and everything planned and pressed before we wake up everyday…constantly goading us to be human do-ings and not human be-ings…
Most of us know this already- it's a trick of the system to distract us from real time- the only realness- the present moment where anything is possible- where the world of wonder and connection exists- where you can immerse in your senses and feelings and in the wild embrace of nature, your love and all the magic that surrounds us when we actually stop and breathe…
Social media, in fact mass media in general is one of the biggest stealers of our time- how many times have you popped onto Insta to grab an event location and found yourself 2 hours later in some weird account watching cats singing in tutus?! (just me? I think not!) Mining time is what mass corporations do best- stealing your time is stealing your agency (often through convincing you that you desperately need X, Y or Z in order to be whole), distracting you from feeling into what your soul really desires, polarising your opinions to prevent you from deeply connecting with your own discoveries and wonderings, goading you deeper into your spiral of “not-enoughness” to ensure you stay hooked on the latest product or fad and therefore have no time to realise your sovereignty and god-forbid actually become an awake human with personal power and connections and capacity to co-create the better world we all know is possible (which is terrible for online sales!)
Maybe its because I'm ¾ through Gabor Maté’s latest book “The myth of Normal” which is an amazing amalgamation of all of his works and a damning diagnosis of the systemic erosion of our human spirit by society (I’m longing to get to the ‘how we make this better’ part), and maybe it's because of the mass acceleration of the neoliberal globalised plight of the political machine to totally disregard all humane considerations in their policies across the globe from the US to Israel, to the UK to Russia (eons old but becoming more blatant in brutality daily) but I feel like it is becoming increasingly important and urgent for us to RECLAIM OUR TIMELINES.
There is no more space to fuck about here- no more years to be working for the machine, putting some cash away for a rainy day before extricating ourselves and moving to the land- the time is now- it has always been now and if we do not reclaim our sovereignty and chose to co-create our own timelines right away, there might not be a timeline left (or land to dream about)- the tipping point is now…
How can we even find space to contemplate the enormity of it all when we are so busy just trying to survive? Well- it's a chicken and egg situation…I guess we need to ask ourselves “what do I really need to survive and what am I telling myself I need because the system says that if I don't have it/ haven't done it I am a failure?” because otherwise the list keeps growing- thats the game…the more you have the longer the list of wants- the more comfortable you are the more commodities seem to become essentials…deeper and deeper into sleep we are lulled- zombies holding out for the latest blender, blueberry masque and botox fix to ensure our happiness…
And yet those of us that are privileged in the world (and by that I mean have a roof over our heads and food on the table- a capacity to take a holiday here and there and access to running water, education and healthcare) have an obligation (I believe) to use our privilege to make the shifts we need to see in the world…to be part of co-creating the better world we all know is possible…
And we need to begin by giving ourselves space to contemplate what this world looks like- giving ourselves time to dream and discuss and open to the myriad possibilities of what we will do with this precious and fleeting life we have been gifted… dare to dream what the true legacy is that you want to leave behind when you die- because news flash folks: WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE- maybe not tomorrow (although this is always possible) but any time in fact it could happen and I for one am on a mission to make sure that when I do I am damn happy with whatever it is I have managed to gift this world in my short dance within it…
“Will this matter to me when I’m dying?” is a great question to ask about everything that you do…the more space-time it’s going to take from you the deeper you need to be asking the question…
Take time to talk to the trees about it, make space to discuss it with loved ones, prioritise mediation over the gym or doom scrolling- as we reach this fake hiatus in the passing year (historically a time to get us all drunk so we would pay our taxes without complaint) let's use it to take some moments in really considering what we are all doing out here, what we want to be moving towards and how we are going to make it happen together in love…THAT’s what we need to be spending our festive time doing!
One of the biggest consumerist wins of the year- festive time- time to make us all mad with the guilt of gift giving and enforced toxic relating and over-indulgence…
Sorry- I should have put a “bah humbug" warning on this post- I think the Sagg-y fire energies are stronger than I realised within!
But it’s weird how the collective trance gets even stronger this time of year- I mean I moved across the globe to escape it and it still finds me feeling anxious about whether I’ve bought enough eco-conscious gift packs for all the extended family and deliberating if its OK to buy a tree or if that is too incongruent or conversely not going to give the kids enough joy if I don't….
So without further ado and mainly for myself (as always) here is my Festive time Survival guide to keep you awake, aligned and spacious over the next month of madness!
