In the Beginning …

Well as of this posting the key number is 7 months 2 days 17 hours 37 seconds.

That’s the time left till midnight on January 20th 2009 when my friend – and the world’s – wanders vaguely out of the front doors of the White House. Leaving behind an incomprehensible trail of devastation.

Or maybe the number is 2,474 days, 4 hours, 17 minutes, 49 seconds… the time Osama Bin Laden has been at large since orchestrating the terrible events of September 11th 2001.

In the beginning, we are told there was no such thing as time. And yet now Americans – and, yes, the world – seem strangely enslaved on marking time. Holding our collective breath with pithy reassurances that this too will pass.

• Time to next pay check:  9 Days, 4 Hours, 34 minutes
• Time before mortgage is due: 9 Days, 10 Hours, 34 minutes
• Time before mortage is really due:  54 Days
• Time to Election: 4 months, 14 Days …

And, there I go again, centred in my own little bubble. For most of the world the questions go a little more like this:

• Time since last meal
• Time since last drink of water
• Time since last earned money
• Time since last doctors visit
• Time since last aid package arrived

In a world that is pushing all of our buttons and in the age of relentless electronic noise and communications perhaps our lesson is to disnetagnle ourselves from the past and future countdowns. And start to focus on that little portion of time called now that is about to slip away.

Be good

 

Jxx