I used to be mystified by his words.
What is time? What makes it tick? Can it be stopped? Even so, for which reasons?
The more I think about it, the more I realise that, more than money, Time is the only real currency we have in this life.
Cash play
Money gets devalued, inflated, deflated. It is just created and destroyed in a series of algorithms that anyone can play around with. The recession of 2008 very much stems from this number game: lower interest rates, alter Consummer Price Index, hike oil prices conveniently, cut down production costs... Our economies are all about juggling figures, trends, data and other man-made business tools. All costs are temporary and artificially made, but some things are free and naturally remain.
I often wonder at the life of my own electrical devices.
I bought a phone back in 2014, barely used it, barely had it out of my bag, barely exposed it to any sort of "hazards" (water, heat, fire, fidgety hands, etc.), barely charging it at all. But 2 years later on, it is giving me the itch. Its screen freezes as soon as my finger touches it, its battery sinks without warning, and suddenly it can't seem to find the network that was here two days before. What is this magic? It's time to change my phone, I'm led to believe. TIME.
Spending time
Has time even got anything to do with it? Afterall, there is no major difference between yesterday and today. I still get my alarm to ring, I still go to work, use my wristwatch to double check the time, because I don't trust my phone anymore. I've seen it stuck on 3.50pm so many times, when the correct digits should have been 5.43pm or even 8.21pm.So that could be the measure of time. The differential between what I believed some time ago (that my phone was a spot-on accurate clock) and what I think now (that my phone is reaching the end of its manufactured life).
Similarly, Time is precious because it is the measure of our growth and emancipation from our old selves to our current selves. What I was when I lived on these other continents 5, 10, 20 years ago, and what I am now (or what I have become) have a lifetime stuck in-between. The structurally adjusted economies, the Schengen area, the live massacre at the Twin Towers, the Great Financial Crisis, Obama's presidency, etc., these events chunk out what is a past that I wouldn't (and couldn't for the life of me!) remember otherwise.
But Time is also precious because my use of my time defines who I am. Do I mainly sit behind my computer? Do I take action to plan for my wishful future? Should I hang out longer at this party or is it better to go for a walk by the ocean? Am I going to order a take-away or try out this recipe in my new cooking book? Decisions are made with time in mind.
Catching up
But when you have been across many places and you have experienced many people's ways of life, thoughts, problems, customs and cultures, it makes it even more confusing to get a sense of time. Sure, it takes me one minute to boil water for my tea in my kettle, but if I were in xxx I would have to get the wood going and the fire burning before I can even put the water pot on top. Yes, talking to my friends is easy: I just log on to Whatsapp and drop them a message and catch them online. But suppose I lived in xxx, no way I could do that without walking to an internet cafe and paying a fee for a log-in. Getting that holiday house in xxx would be so quick: I pay cash and get the papers straight on, while here I need to open a loan account, show my payslips/bills/account statements, etc.I've come to the conclusion that time only has the value we stick on it. If I'm willing to take the time to discuss with you, you mean a lot to me. If I'm spending time thinking a problem through, its solution is important to me. If I'm happy to use 57 minutes and 23 seconds to type and illustrate this post, then, yes, writing this blog brings value to my life.
And if you are reading this, then, somehow, we are sharing the same views on life, across the time-space continuum.
