Musings of a Life/Time -- (quick read)

This past weekend, I was chatting with a friend, listening to music. The topic of the state of the world came up.  He told me that he had asked a very old man recently, "What is the main thing that has changed in your lifetime?"

The very old man responded, "People don't have time for each other any more."

Sad, right?

Sad... and true.

The Persistence of Time by Salvador Dali

Get this irony -- did you know that when email came out, "they" predicted that it would cut the workday down by like half?  "They" imagined all these people getting their work done quickly and easily, so that they could get out and enjoy the day more.

Yeah.  That didn't happen.

And cars?  Aren't they so great because we get to places faster?  So that we can have more time to do what we enjoy....?

...like hanging out with people?  Making time for them, if you will.

But instead, we faulty humans have tried to keep up with cyberspace and the speed of transportation -- we have sped ourselves up so much (read: Starbucks on every corner) that maybe we are missing the point.

After all, Life and Time are not mutually exclusive.  If there is one thing we have in Life, it's time.  Really, it's the only thing we have.  Until we die.  So when we exclaim, "I don't have time!" we're really kind of lying.  It's just that we have chosen something else to do with our time/life at that moment.

I'm as guilty of it as the next person.  It's almost as if we treat Time as a competitor of sorts -- who's going to win out today?  Time?  Or me?

Again -- Guilty!

All of these musings are just another reason why I think it's a good idea if we all got out of our cars every once a while.  You know, took our time getting somewhere occasionally.  Walked.  Biked.  Took a bus, and just sat down with someone, anyone, and asked them, "What's the main thing that has changed for you in your lifetime?"