Stopwatch hearts.
Last calls, the bar is about to close. You can feel Monday giving you a cheeky smile from the other end of the counter. He's all set and ready to go.
We all know the checkpoints of time. Moments that start new activities, finish tasks, tick the boxes of duties filled. They make us linger or charge head first into action. It starts with not being late for work in the morning.. and goes all the way to buying that dream house to fit those kids and the Italian design furniture in. Goal after goal after goal. A schedule the length of an Olympic marathon, and the density of the compressed wishes of a hundred 5 year old's in a little tin can. No time for this.. no time for that. Hardly enough seconds to squeeze in a smile upon finally finishing that report on changes caused by the introduction of a new corporate catering policy.
Is this why we're all here? To make sure we make the deadlines?
Or is it about having that picnic on the beach. Enjoying an ocean full of seconds that float by while reflecting the smile on your face.
No shortage no duties out there. This world has been built on them, and we all get our fair share. Most of us end up grabbing more than that. It is seen as natural for people to try and achieve more than the average Joe or Jane from next door. Prove things to ourselves, to those around us. But seeing the abundance of opportunities given to us for doing all that, it becomes clear - adequate supply of time has been left out of the equation. We can only do so much. If those picnics pass us by.. well.
That's life.
I've been there plenty of times. Willing the hours and days to move that little extra bit faster. For that next checkpoint to be cleared, only to begin the process of getting through a new set of days and weeks. Why have I done it? Which special and meaningful moments have I lost like that? I haven't a clue. I know this for a fact - the first ten years of my life felt longer than those bringing me closer to the 20 year mark. And the last 4 years towards becoming 30.. well, they have flown by. And I can only admit being the sole perpetrator of this crime against time, because it's so childishly obvious. When was the last time I sat down on a rooftop to watch those bluebirds fly.. or when did I last run around throwing up handfuls of freshly cut grass in the air.. just for the FUN of it?
There were no goals. Just time for me and my life.
Memories of my childhood? The best. And there are so many of them.
The last goal I achieved? A deadline I met? Don't know. Don't care. I think it felt OK when I succeeded. But that's past tense, my mind is already set on new issues, present problems. Do I have enough time? What's next?
A preoccupation with "making it". A prejudice for stopping the clock to live in that moment.
Are we all in a race?
Those warm summer nights of the '80's will never come back. Those records will never be played again. My mom and her friends will not be telling me to stop running around and to go to bed. I won't be sitting on that window straining my eyes to catch a glimpse of my kindergarten in the darkness.
That's our deal with memories. They're always past tense. And they won't be coming back to us.
My stopwatch heart started beating when I turned 18. And the faster it's pace got, the more I achieved. The more checkpoints I cleared.
But it has never been about the quantity, has it? It's the quality of the moment, that can leave an everlasting imprint in the sand.
The last picnic I wanted to have, I didn't even organize. It was handed to me on a silver platter. And the only thing I remember about it, was myself waiting for it to end.. so I could move on and tick the box on my schedule saying this one's done.
Should it even count as a memory? I was there. I did it. Checkpoint cleared.
But I think not.
I'm missing out, that's what. This stopwatch heart is only good for getting through the checkpoints. For a memory to be timeless, you have to stop the clock, take it all in. Love every stupid second of it.
Because every second spent waiting for the next checkpoint to be cleared, is a memory lost. What if it isn't Alzheimer's at all that gets us in the end. What if we simply choose to race instead, and a list of things you've done in your life will never turn out to be a lifetime of memories.
Tick, tock, tick, tock.
You check the time and linger on.. it's not over until you say it is. And old man Einstein said it's all relative.
You bet your ass it is. Bin that watch.
Take that moment.
Make it a memory.
We all know the checkpoints of time. Moments that start new activities, finish tasks, tick the boxes of duties filled. They make us linger or charge head first into action. It starts with not being late for work in the morning.. and goes all the way to buying that dream house to fit those kids and the Italian design furniture in. Goal after goal after goal. A schedule the length of an Olympic marathon, and the density of the compressed wishes of a hundred 5 year old's in a little tin can. No time for this.. no time for that. Hardly enough seconds to squeeze in a smile upon finally finishing that report on changes caused by the introduction of a new corporate catering policy.
Is this why we're all here? To make sure we make the deadlines?
Or is it about having that picnic on the beach. Enjoying an ocean full of seconds that float by while reflecting the smile on your face.
No shortage no duties out there. This world has been built on them, and we all get our fair share. Most of us end up grabbing more than that. It is seen as natural for people to try and achieve more than the average Joe or Jane from next door. Prove things to ourselves, to those around us. But seeing the abundance of opportunities given to us for doing all that, it becomes clear - adequate supply of time has been left out of the equation. We can only do so much. If those picnics pass us by.. well.
That's life.
I've been there plenty of times. Willing the hours and days to move that little extra bit faster. For that next checkpoint to be cleared, only to begin the process of getting through a new set of days and weeks. Why have I done it? Which special and meaningful moments have I lost like that? I haven't a clue. I know this for a fact - the first ten years of my life felt longer than those bringing me closer to the 20 year mark. And the last 4 years towards becoming 30.. well, they have flown by. And I can only admit being the sole perpetrator of this crime against time, because it's so childishly obvious. When was the last time I sat down on a rooftop to watch those bluebirds fly.. or when did I last run around throwing up handfuls of freshly cut grass in the air.. just for the FUN of it?
There were no goals. Just time for me and my life.
Memories of my childhood? The best. And there are so many of them.
The last goal I achieved? A deadline I met? Don't know. Don't care. I think it felt OK when I succeeded. But that's past tense, my mind is already set on new issues, present problems. Do I have enough time? What's next?
A preoccupation with "making it". A prejudice for stopping the clock to live in that moment.
Are we all in a race?
Those warm summer nights of the '80's will never come back. Those records will never be played again. My mom and her friends will not be telling me to stop running around and to go to bed. I won't be sitting on that window straining my eyes to catch a glimpse of my kindergarten in the darkness.
That's our deal with memories. They're always past tense. And they won't be coming back to us.
My stopwatch heart started beating when I turned 18. And the faster it's pace got, the more I achieved. The more checkpoints I cleared.
But it has never been about the quantity, has it? It's the quality of the moment, that can leave an everlasting imprint in the sand.
The last picnic I wanted to have, I didn't even organize. It was handed to me on a silver platter. And the only thing I remember about it, was myself waiting for it to end.. so I could move on and tick the box on my schedule saying this one's done.
Should it even count as a memory? I was there. I did it. Checkpoint cleared.
But I think not.
I'm missing out, that's what. This stopwatch heart is only good for getting through the checkpoints. For a memory to be timeless, you have to stop the clock, take it all in. Love every stupid second of it.
Because every second spent waiting for the next checkpoint to be cleared, is a memory lost. What if it isn't Alzheimer's at all that gets us in the end. What if we simply choose to race instead, and a list of things you've done in your life will never turn out to be a lifetime of memories.
Tick, tock, tick, tock.
You check the time and linger on.. it's not over until you say it is. And old man Einstein said it's all relative.
You bet your ass it is. Bin that watch.
Take that moment.
Make it a memory.
posted by Henri M at 3:37 PM
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