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The Time Between....
Posted by
Autumnpuma
,
20 April 2007
·
24 views
I have discovered that Life is a series of distractions.
I know, this is something like discovering the moon isn't made of cheese (or is it? But that's another entry best done by Russ). The point is, I have just discovered it. Deep down in my bones discovered it. Grokked it, if you will. Why haven't I discovered this long before now? Well, I was distracted.
Bread and Circuses come to mind, but Juvenal was writing about political distractions. You know the kind I'm talking about; throw a few Christians in with some lions, give the masses free bread whilst they watch the ensuing hilarity, and hopefully nobody would notice Rome falling apart. No, I'm more concerned with the Bread and Circuses of the soul.
We run from one activity to the next in our lives and call a day full that has no pause between those activities. It's almost humorous the way we run from one bit of fun to the next, trying almost desperately to minimize the time we are alone with ourselves. We minimize the time between.
What are we afraid to find in those spaces between fun? Will we find that we're not entirely comfortable spending some quiet time with ourselves? Will we discover that we are boring, self-centered pr!cks who can't even spare a few moments for ourselves? Very likely yes. In an effort to get to know myself better, I've taken up a little experiment. Those times in my day that I would ordinarily seek entertainment in the television or internet, I've decided to sit quietly and do nothing. This was actually quite fun. I must be getting old because I can now understand why so many older chaps sit in their rockers on their porches and smile. Steve has echoed these thoughts and since he and I are the same age, I suppose it truly is an age 'thing'.
I can't bear to sit there drinking my beer and listening to the wind and the birds for too long, but I suspect the older I get the more I'll want to do it. Already I look forward to those times of doing nothing almost as much as I look forward to the fun activities of life.
Now that I've yattered on a bit I want to know what you, dear reader, do with yourself in those times between?
I know, this is something like discovering the moon isn't made of cheese (or is it? But that's another entry best done by Russ). The point is, I have just discovered it. Deep down in my bones discovered it. Grokked it, if you will. Why haven't I discovered this long before now? Well, I was distracted.
Bread and Circuses come to mind, but Juvenal was writing about political distractions. You know the kind I'm talking about; throw a few Christians in with some lions, give the masses free bread whilst they watch the ensuing hilarity, and hopefully nobody would notice Rome falling apart. No, I'm more concerned with the Bread and Circuses of the soul.
We run from one activity to the next in our lives and call a day full that has no pause between those activities. It's almost humorous the way we run from one bit of fun to the next, trying almost desperately to minimize the time we are alone with ourselves. We minimize the time between.
What are we afraid to find in those spaces between fun? Will we find that we're not entirely comfortable spending some quiet time with ourselves? Will we discover that we are boring, self-centered pr!cks who can't even spare a few moments for ourselves? Very likely yes. In an effort to get to know myself better, I've taken up a little experiment. Those times in my day that I would ordinarily seek entertainment in the television or internet, I've decided to sit quietly and do nothing. This was actually quite fun. I must be getting old because I can now understand why so many older chaps sit in their rockers on their porches and smile. Steve has echoed these thoughts and since he and I are the same age, I suppose it truly is an age 'thing'.
I can't bear to sit there drinking my beer and listening to the wind and the birds for too long, but I suspect the older I get the more I'll want to do it. Already I look forward to those times of doing nothing almost as much as I look forward to the fun activities of life.
Now that I've yattered on a bit I want to know what you, dear reader, do with yourself in those times between?
I do like day-dreaming when I just wake up though. Does that make me mature? 
