I was watching 'Antiques Roadshow' today. A person brought in a clock that was made in Pennsylvania around the year 1750. It only had an hour hand; no minute hand. The expert said that people weren't as pressed for time as we are today and to even own a clock was a rare thing. Most people relied on the clock in the town square to know what time it is.
Amazing. The image of a slower pace flashed through my mind and was then gone. Because there was no time for it to linger there.
I cannot remember a time that I wasn't aware of time. I was given my first watch on my 10th birthday. It was an orange, clunky thing right in keeping with the 60's mod style. I promptly wound it too tight and it never worked quite right no matter how many times my mother took it to the jeweler to get it fixed.
How far do I have to look to find a clock today? There is one in the corner of the computer screen, a watch on my wrist, clocks on the VCR or tv, if I turn on Comcast, clocks on my cell phone, in my car, on the walls at church, work and home. Most of them do not have minute or hour hands but numbers so that I can calculate the time quickly.
How would I survive with no minute hand today? Let's see. What types of things are scheduled around time for me in a normal week? Meetings at work, time clock tracking my hours, doctors appointments, TV shows, luncheon appointments, store hours opened and closed, movie times, church meetings. How are my minutes measured? Commute time, 1 1/2 minutes in the microwave to heat lunch, boil the pasta for 11 minutes, 20 minutes until the load of laundry is ready. Could I function without minute hands? How different would life be when measured by hours and not seconds?
Could these early Americans have imagined that there would ever be such a thing as a nanosecond?
What do you think? How different would your life be without a minute hand on the clock. Should we try it for a day and see if we bring the world to its knees? What about 40 minutes? Could we go that long?
Stocking Candy Cookies
8 months ago
5 comments:
Jack gave me a Minnie Mouse watch for a birthday gift many years ago and I wore it and wore it until it's battery died. That was when I decided I was tired of feeling controlled by time and stopped wearing a watch. I also set my clock on the nightstand three minutes fast and the clock in my car five minutes fast (but that varies because I haven't figured out how to control the changing of it every spring/fall)--anyway, I guess the point I'm trying to get to is that somewhere I got this crazy idea that I didn't need to be anyplace so urgently that I needed to know exactly what time it was. If I have an appointment, I try to leave in enough time to be there a few minutes early, but sometimes I get it wrong and I'm a few minutes late. Luckily my friends are understanding. When I fly, I never know what time it is because I have to turn off my cell phone and that's really the only way I know what time it is (at least according to my blackberry.)
Giving up on watching every minute has been immensely freeing. Risky, I suppose, but worth it.
you'd go crazy because then someone could show up anytime within that hour and not be late!
Ha! Laurie's funny.
My watch battery died a few months ago and it took me forever to get it replaced.
At times, it was nice not to have a watch and at other times, it was really hard because the measurement of time was necessary for certain things.
I had to know the time when it came to getting my little guy fed and rested. Knowing the time was essential for me because it helped me know what Peter needed. When he started getting cranky at a certain time, I was able to figure out why--I knew it was either because he was hungry or tired.
The measurement of time is probably necessary for us while we live on this earth as humans. I don't think we'll be free from time until we're in another existence.
Time is fluid. Time is man made. Time is needed for structure but should be let go when structure is too rigid.
Time is too quick when life is fun! Time drags when you are waiting for your wife to get ready.
I threw away my watch as a practice some time ago to get away from time holding me and I no longer wear a watch. That's not to say that I don't pay attention when I need to be somewhere or do something.
I agree with Sarah when she says time is needed in this dimension, but in another existence we will not needed.
I don't use time well. When I have all the time in the world I get nothing done. When I no time to breath I get lots done! Now what's with that!
And now it's time to move onto your previous writing!
Wow! I'm glad I reread that response! "In another existence WE will not be needed!" I hope to shout that I said that one wrong!
Will you write an article on multitasking with your time! It is exactly that reason that the sentence above got written in the first place!
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