As the New Year approaches, what is your current perspective on time? Like many others, my perspective on time shifted throughout different stages in life. For example, I was driving home yesterday from afternoon errands, fighting the holiday traffic, when the song, “Funny How Time Slips Away” (Nelson, 1961) sung by Elvis Presley came on the radio. It immediately took me back to my youth growing up in Georgia in the 1970’s. Mama and several other family members loved listening to Elvis. So, his voice is a memory trigger for those simpler times of youth with family. And the line “Ain’t it Funny How Time Slips Away” stuck with me as I was thinking about this new blog post.
Time has been on my mind a lot lately, and everywhere I look there are reminders of the theme of time. For example, my husband came home from a business trip and recommended a movie for us to watch that he had seen on a recent flight. The movie is entitled “Long Story Short” (Lawson, 2021) (available on Netflix). It is a comedy movie about second chances best described as a story about a major procrastinator who wakes up the morning after his wedding finding that every few minutes he’s jumping forward to the same day in the next year of his life. While watching his life flash before his eyes at a rapid pace, he tries to make every second count, figure out how to slow down time, and get back to his life as it was before. It is a bit like the movie Groundhog Day but different in some unique ways, and I recommend watching it.
Also, while having lunch with a friend this week that I haven’t seen in a while, I was again reminded how time slips away as we were talking about how fast her daughter is growing up. It seems just like yesterday that her toddler daughter was an infant. We talked about the importance of being mindfully present in each moment to enjoy it before the time is gone.
Like the character in the movie “Long Story Short” (Lawson, 2021), I’m a major procrastinator. I even once procrastinated by watching a TED Talk about procrastinating! The TED Talk is entitled “Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator” (Urban, 2016) by Tim Urban. I highly recommend watching it! However, there are so many goals and dreams that I want to pursue and achieve, but for many years I procrastinated. Now, as I get older and see friends and family around me who are in poor health or sadly die much too young, I feel keener awareness of the limitations of time, the sense of urgency to not take a single minute for granted, and to stop procrastinating and go after those goals and dreams. You could say that my ‘panic monster’ woke up! Watch the TED Talk by Tim Urban and you’ll understand the reference.
I do come by my procrastination naturally from my Daddy it seems. One of my funniest memories with Daddy was one Christmas where at the last minute he dragged me to the store with him to buy Mama a coat for Christmas. He picked out this bright, orange-colored women’s coat that could have been used as a hunting coat because it was so bright. Bless his heart. He tried. Mama opened that gift on Christmas Day and smiled and thanked us as best she could. She never did have a good poker face. And she hung that coat carefully in the closet and never wore it. Bless Daddy’s heart, he tried to surprise her but learned his lesson. From then on, he asked her for a list of exactly what she wanted for Christmas. Happy memories. Miss them both, but I smile when remembering them through my stories.
As kids we were often rushing time, excited to turn various ages connected with rites of passage. For example, rushing to become 13 and an official teenager or rushing to turn 15 or 16 so that we could get our learner’s permit or full driver’s license to drive a car, a major milestone of our independence. At the same time, as a kid growing up in Georgia in the 1970’s sometimes my perspective on time was slower. I remember waking up on winter mornings, sleeping on a pallet, a southern term for a makeshift bed of quilts and blankets on the floor, of my Great Aunt Alma and Granny Sis’s house. The sounds of laughter from the adults and aroma of fresh baked biscuits, cooked sausage, and freshly brewed coffee coming from the kitchen. Those slow, lazy winter mornings with family where time seemed to stretch out still linger in my mind. Similarly, as kids we would get lost in the flow of play in the wooded area near home, never paying attention to time, until the streetlights came on at twilight. Time wasn’t something I paid much attention to back then.
Now, as an older adult time is on my mind. I want to make the most of each moment given and be fully present in those moments with the people I care for deeply. And I don’t want to rush time, even to complete goals or accomplish dreams because for me the journey towards those goals and dreams is filled with so many enjoyable moments, I want to savor each and every one of them. That’s my story and my perspective on time as we approach the new year.
I challenge each of you to reflect on your own stories from childhood to present day and your perspectives on time. We each have a unique perspective and story to tell. Perhaps 2024 will be an opportunity for you to write a new story for yourself, one that doesn’t let time slip away.
Wishing you a Peaceful Holiday Season, Happy New Year and many blessings for 2024!
References
Nelson, Willie. 1961. Funny How Time Slips Away. [Recorded by Elvis Presley]. On Elvis Country. RCA Records
Lawson, Josh. (Director). (2021). Long Story Short [Film]. StudioCanal
Urban, Tim. (2016, April 6). Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator [Video]. YouTube.