My BiPolar Reality Dispatch: Time Is Money: THE BIG LIE

Money has no Value next to Time...

Each week seems to go by quicker than one before, this is one of the tricks Life plays on one as we grow older…time is shorter than it’s ever been before. There is a scientific explanation for this, it’s got to do with our mind’s perception of time. When we were young, there was barely any time. Time was not a concept we’re born with, it’s a learned behavior. We each learned that time from the adults around us when they would remind us that our birthday was still months away…or “this many days until…” or “you have this many more wake-ups before we do that…” and we tried as children to understand that strange concept. Children simply live in the now. There is no past not future, there is just now. Now and maybe lunchtime. By the time we’re entrained into the public education system, the concepts and constricts of time become more enforced, they become more real. During those early school years we each managed to make it from the beginning to the end of the school year with that ever glorious summer break as the grand carrot to reach; when we were young the summers still seemed somehow timeless, but the they were timeless with a finite ending come school. Upon graduation of school, some of us went to work, some of us served in the military and others went to college. The limits of time continued to grow and envelop much of our lives. When spend time at college or serving the nation with a very limited window of time to return to our homes, to our roots. We work at job that only give us a very finite time each week for personal space and a meanly couple of weeks per year (if we’re lucky) to again return to our roots. Our time is further divided by the obligations we have to earn a living, devote our attention to family, loved ones and friends, commit to serving our spiritual and community needs and still save time for one’s own private solitude, that ever elusive “me time”.

Not all on-line time is wasted...

This subject comes to me this week because I’ve literally marked the time I’ve spent on-line, most on G+ and Flipboard reading, posting and responding to various threads and it shocked me to realize how much of my time is spent doing these things…I am dabbling on-line, in these two place, either on my phone of my laptop, an astounding average of almost 12 hours a week. Given there are 168 hours between midnight Sunday to midnight the next Sunday, I sleep about 30 hours at night and perhaps another 10 hours in my siesta time, so I have 128 of “awake time” each week. I spend a total of perhaps 8 hours week either eating or preparing food, perhaps a total of 2 hours week showering. I spend 10 hours a week in the garden and 4 hours a week doing house chores. I spend about 70 hours a week writing or dabbling in a serious creative endeavor, that’s my work time. I spend 5 hours a week at the gym, another 4 hours per week just on my morning and evening strolls. Plus the 12 hours of time I spend “piddling” on-line, this leaves me with simply 13 hours of “free time” each week. What do I do with the extra time, how do I typically waste this time? I watch Netflix a few nights a week or I read, that’s almost 8 hours of my “available time” and every week or so I donate my services to help the homeless or those with mental health issues, but I take that time from my “work time”. I hang out with the family, that’s about an hour a day and that’s the remaining few hours of my available time each week. I’m not complaining, indeed, it’s more a matter of pride that I find (almost) enough time each week to do the things which make my life feel complete. I feel fortunate because it’s not been easy, but I did it and I have to say, organizing my time wisely allows me to live a full, rich life.

Father Time marches on...

I also suspect I am not normal in this way, many people around me mention that I never seem to run out of time but when I remind them “We each have exactly the same amount of time, there is no income inequality with time, nobody is wealthy or poverty stricken by time, it’s a matter of how one spends it!” I get all kinds of responses but to me, almost all of them sound like excuses. The number one and two response is everybody complains they work too much and when they are not working, they are too tired to do anything else. I can’t argue with that, I wouldn’t dare argue with their truth. That’s the life they live and who I am to speculate how they might better utilize their time? I know that “work” for me is very different than most people. I love to write, I love to be creative and all along I’ve reminded myself to “just do what you love, no matter what…do what you love.” My logic is that if we’re going to have spend a lifetime doing something for a living it should, at very least, be something one enjoys doing and, if possible, do what you love. I love to write, I love to paint and draw, I adore playing and recording music, I like to dabble with video and Internet…that’s what I’ve been doing for almost 40 years now and it’s very true, I was a starving person for many of those years. But I’m not now, neither are my children and I’ve come to realize that if I did what I Love, the money would follow. It did. I make time for others that are very important to my health…like cooking and gardening, my exercise and daily strolls…there are many days I don’t feel like doing them, but I do because, surprisingly, they actually give me the energy to continue doing other things. Again, I can’t give anyone advice on how to spend their time, only this…Time is the most precious commodity. You only get so much time in life, no matter who you are, how wealthy you are nor how many good deeds you’ve done in this lifetime…you only get so much time and that’s all. Once you spend time, unlike money, it’s gone and you can never earn it back again. Time is our most precious commodity therefore, all I can say of value is…don’t squander it!

Hour by Hour, Time moves continually...

This week I have several family oriented situations to focus on and I'm really getting into the new book so I don't expect to be around all that much...I'm sure you'll understand, yes? I do want to thank everyone for the Love and Support for my wifey and I and our 20th Anniversary celebration last week...we still have this entire week to get through before we go to celebrate our union at The Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California for another Phish show! In the meanwhile, it's a series of daily grinds and chores, a lot of work and some time with the kids...I do hope you each and all have a great week if I don't catch up to you in person.