Slow down, breathe easy, make a poem of your life. Don't let life rush by; reflect. Look for beauty and rejuvenate your soul.

Thursday 9 December 2010

Slow The Day - Reclaiming Time

hold my hand; together
we will slow the day...

Pulling time out of the hat is the modern magician's greatest feat. Very often we have an ambivalent or indeed a negative relationship with time: there is never enough. Even in our world of 24/7.
Time ill-used stifles our personalities until we lose ourselves in the mundane and a lifeless life.
Time reclaimed frees the soul and reveals who we truly are.
Tme is there for the taking; but more often it takes from us. It takes our humanity, our spirituality, our creativity from us and buries them deep in drudgery and obligation, in busyness and thoughtlessness (by which I don't mean we become insensitive to others - though we may - but rather we fail to listen to and nurture our own thoughts).
But it can be so different if we reclaim time. If we can slow down, take a little time to think, to reflect on the world around us.
But to simply stop and wait for the thoughts, the new cleaner perspective to come, is not always easy. A vacuum is quickly filled: with that nagging voice reminding us of all the chores we are not doing while we sit doing nothing, except thinking of all those time-thieves that call to us, gifting us only guilt.

But if we claim back time for a purpose, for creativity, then we claim it back for beauty.

 If I step outside my door with a camera I will look at the world differently. I will be searching for beauty through the lens and I will see so much that I would have missed had I walked the same route with a shopping list in my hand.
If I bring that photograph home, take a paintbrush and transfer that image to the canvas I will see new possibilities in that tree, or flower, bird, woman or sky.
If I then pick up my pen and write a poem that begins with that tree, or sky, or woman, I will find another new perspective and a story behind it that I never knew was there before.
Each new discovery is beautiful. The photograph, the painting, the poem are each beautiful. The time reclaimed to create these things is beautiful time: not a thief, but a gift-giver. The satisfaction I bring into my life because I have seen the world anew and because I have brought something new into the world, is beautiful. My soul breathes again...

hold my hand; together
we will slow the day...

Louise

5 comments:

  1. What a wonderful, thoughtful post. I'm with you. Let's slow the day!

    ReplyDelete
  2. i am with you even if my days are too fast right now

    ReplyDelete
  3. Time was chasing me in the worst way imaginable. And then my perception split - part stood still and part flew on. I'm still trying to find the balance... Thank you for a lovely post.

    ReplyDelete
  4. WHAT a beautiful (and so true!) post - thank you for the reminder, especially these days . . . and thank you too for becoming a follower - I am so happy to have you, Kristin xo

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like this post a lot - reclaiming time for good and creativity and slower living. I need to do this a whole lot more. Great photos too!

    ReplyDelete