{"id":914,"date":"2017-08-10T17:18:41","date_gmt":"2017-08-10T21:18:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sallybsedgwick.com\/conversation\/?p=914"},"modified":"2017-08-10T17:18:41","modified_gmt":"2017-08-10T21:18:41","slug":"respect-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/respect-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Respect Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AntiqueTime. \u201cRespect Time\u201d was one of the items on the original \u201clittle things that can change the world\u201d note cards. (You can find that original list here!<\/a>) Since then I\u2019ve discovered a whole new relationship with time, but this was the beginning. And so in the best tradition of describing something, and, as I have a tendency to quote Alice in Wonderland<\/i> when discussing time:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?\u2019 [the White Rabbit] asked.
\n<\/i><\/span>`Begin at the beginning,\u2019 the King said gravely, `and go on till you come to the end: then stop.\u2019<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRespect time\u201d simply made sense. In the world of the industrial revolution, which was the origin of our obsession with clock time, people are deemed more efficient and reliable if they arrive at a scheduled starting time, if they show up for appointments a bit early, and if events begin when they say they will. We talk about not having enough time, about time management as something that makes us more efficient, and about how we rely on public transit and event schedules and agreed upon work day hours, <\/span><\/p>\n

But the \u201crespect\u201d part of this expectation usually comes from other people\u2019s expectations. Does the Jones family want you at their house a few minutes early or, if you show up at the appointed hour, are you the first guest to arrive and the hosts are just hurrying upstairs to get dressed? I know of churches that always begin services \u201con time\u201d and others where, if you wander in 15 minutes after the hour, you still have time to settle into your seat. The classic, and clich\u00e9-ish,\u00a0 <\/span>examples depend on whether your meeting occurs in the corporate US world or in the Caribbean (where time seems, to me, to be a general suggestion).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Hourglass\"So \u201crespect time\u201d appears to mean different things to different people. \u201cDon\u2019t waste my time\u201d is a classic response with it\u2019s own memes and links in Google. For example someone named Karla Cheyenne\u00a0 <\/span>has a board on Pinterest, that is apparently about relationships, called \u201cDon\u2019t Waste My Time.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0Plus there are multiple Instagram links. (It seems that somewhere along the line, social media has become a standard for ideas and phrases.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Which brings us back to why \u201crespect time\u201d is on the \u201clittle things that can change the world\u201d list. Through our obsession about clock time, age, and time as a resource, time itself has become a major currency in our modern world. It\u2019s part of experiments, surveys, and expectations. We talk about not feeling valued if people don\u2019t respect our time. We talk about it as a limited resource. People talk time as equal to money and we are admonished to not waste it or allow others to misuse or demand it of you when it doesn\u2019t work to your advantage. When I\u2019ve spoken about changing people\u2019s relationship to time, the immediate response is, \u201cOh, so you teach time management.\u201d (The answer to that question is, \u201cNo!\u201d, but that discussion comes later.)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"PalmPeople manage time in different ways. Before I could actually start using my first, triumphantly purchased, Franklin Planner,<\/i> a colleague got me hooked on scheduling, and so managing time, with a Palm Pilot (remember those?). One friend keeps all his clocks set 20 minutes fast and claims this keeps him from being late. I\u2019ve lived with someone who was always \u201clate,\u201d so you learned to work with that. I\u2019ve lived with someone\u00a0 <\/span>who never had to set an alarm clock and always woke up when he wanted to, even when it was off his usual schedule.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, as we begin our discussion of time, which will be continued, probably as Facebook live posts, through Spirit Moxie\u2019s new Facebook page Tango with Time<\/a>, it\u2019s important to remember to respect other people\u2019s and your relationship with time. Remember your time is, in fact, yours. And so other people\u2019s time is, in fact, theirs. <\/span><\/p>\n

As hints of future posts, I\u2019d like to leave you with two references. First, going back to Alice in Wonderland<\/i>\u00a0 <\/span>and the Mad Hatter\u2019s discussion of time:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"MadAlice sighed wearily. `I think you might do something better with the time,\u2019 she said, `than waste it\u2026.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

`If you knew Time as well as I do,\u2019 said the Hatter, `you wouldn\u2019t talk about wasting IT. It\u2019s HIM.\u2019<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

`I don\u2019t know what you mean,\u2019 said Alice.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

`Of course you don\u2019t!\u2019 the Hatter said, tossing his head contemptuously. `I dare say you never even spoke to Time!\u2019<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

`Perhaps not,\u2019 Alice cautiously replied: `but I know I have to beat time when I learn music.\u2019<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

`Ah! that accounts for it,\u2019 said the Hatter. `He won\u2019t stand beating. Now, if you only kept on good terms with him, he\u2019d do almost anything you liked with the clock. For instance, suppose it were nine o\u2019clock in the morning, just time to begin lessons: you\u2019d only have to whisper a hint to Time, and round goes the clock in a twinkling! Half-past one, time for dinner!\u2019. . . .<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

`Is that the way YOU manage?\u2019 Alice asked.The Hatter shook his head mournfully. `Not I!\u2019 he replied. `We quarrelled last March\u2013just before HE went mad, you know\u2013\u2018 (pointing with his tea spoon at the March Hare,) `\u2013it was at the great concert given by the Queen of Hearts, and I had to sing<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTwinkle, twinkle, little bat!
\n<\/i><\/span>How I wonder what you\u2019re at!\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

You know the song, perhaps?\u2019. . . .<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

`Well, I\u2019d hardly finished the first verse,\u2019 said the Hatter, `when the Queen jumped up and bawled out, \u201cHe\u2019s murdering the time! Off with his head!\u201d\u2018<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

`How dreadfully savage!\u2019 exclaimed Alice.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

`And ever since that,\u2019 the Hatter went on in a mournful tone, `he won\u2019t do a thing I ask! It\u2019s always six o\u2019clock now.\u2019<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Thank you Charles Dodgson aka Louis Carroll!<\/span><\/p>\n

And finally here\u2019s an unnamed poem I wrote sometime in the 1980s that has, for me, been haunting this conversation:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"MeltingTime has a silly habit <\/span>\u2014
\n<\/span>Not of Marching <\/span>\u2014
\n<\/span>We expect the march of minute hands,
\n<\/span>But of pausing,
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>too bored
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>too busy
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>to notice incongruity
\n<\/span>Languishing into unexpected afternoons
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>and eons \u2019til yesterday.
\n<\/span>Carefully timed, it refuses
\n<\/span>confines \u2014bursting into
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>alarms or daydreams \u2014
\n<\/span>punctuated by phone calls,
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>silence mocking announcements at
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>10 minute intervals<\/span><\/p>\n

Last weekend threatened Spring,
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>but trees knew better
\n<\/span>Only tiny flowers expecting frost
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>hinted summer<\/span><\/p>\n

Time knows buds as well as buses
\n<\/span>Birth, death,
\n<\/span>and pendulums never moving
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>as the earth turns
\n<\/span>and centuries vanish \u2014
\n<\/span>and a matchless universe
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>works to its own ends<\/span><\/p>\n

Copyright 1985 S. B. Sedgwick<\/span><\/p>\n

So \u201csee you later\u201d when we\u2019ll talk more about time. It will all be on time at the right time. Questions? Thoughts?<\/span><\/p>\n

____________________________________<\/p>\n

Images from the top:<\/p>\n

Antique Clock \u2014 Spirit Moxie
\nHourglass \u2014 Jamiesrabbits
\nPalm Pilot \u2014 Old Organizers Collection<\/a>
\nMad Hatter’s Tea Party \u2014 John Tenniel
\nMelting Clock (at the Grand Antique Mall<\/a>) \u2014 Spirit Moxie<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Time. \u201cRespect Time\u201d was one of the items on the original \u201clittle things that can change the world\u201d note cards. (You can find that original list here!) Since then I\u2019ve discovered a whole new relationship with time, but this was … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[12],"class_list":["post-914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-main-conversation","tag-time-useage"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6DJHl-eK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=914"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":916,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914\/revisions\/916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}