Posted on 01 Apr, 2009 -
A red red robin and the 12 Passions of Man
How well are you about to SPEND the next hour of your time on this earth?
And will you get to the end of your days and say I SPENT my time here well?
In a society obsessed with saving both time and money these days, I join reader Jenny in asking “but how well are we spending it?”
Some time ago I was sent an email by a reader that really struck me and that I have been meaning to come back to for some time.
And as there is no time like the present (and right now this moment - when the kids are finally back at school and I’m staring out the window at pink light and mist across the rooftops and distant fields - the present moment is truly perfect in more ways than one) then I will rise to the challenge today.
“Huge importance,” said reader Jenny, “is attached to saving time but there are comparatively few people who are able to make good use of the time that has been saved. Boredom causes more problems than society can now handle. Like so many other things, saving time has been skilfully promoted by those who stand to gain financially.”
What are we exactly saving our time and labour for?
For there is indeed much irony in the idea of a modern society that has invented every possible time-saving gadget, technique or microwave-ready frozen jacket potato imaginable yet spends the time that it has saved either watching television, working more hours, or worrying about the state of its finances or lack of meaning or connection with life.
How many people, for example, succumb to the time-saving allure of ready-made meals but miss out on part of the act of living in the process? For if we are not here to chop carrots, pull leeks from the frozen soil or enjoy the smell of a good home-cooked meal when we arrive home from work then what are we here for?
We (along with the Americans) are a nation that has bought more labour-saving devices than we can cram into our cupboards yet are constantly being told that we need to exercise more and lose weight. Yet what strong, slender and toned bodies we would all have if we used manual saws, drills or whisks instead of electric ones.... dug our gardens… and carried or cycled our groceries back from the shops.
How will you want to be judged when you meet your real of metaphorical maker?
I doubt that if there is a real, metaphorical or even just imaginary maker who will meet us in heaven when we ascend, that he will want to know what car we drove, what hours we worked or whether we finally got round to painting the bathroom window.
Surely, instead (with long white hair and wise face yet with the enthusiasm of eternal youth), he will run to our side and ask “Did your heart nearly stop in awe when the first blossom appeared in Spring?"… “Did you ever climb to the top of a mountain and understand what it was all for?"… Or “Did you ever get round to visiting those older people who live isolated on their own as had always been your intention?”
“Life” as John Lennon said “is what happens while you are busy making other plans.”
Now, as someone who sees their time as more precious than anything other than life itself, I of course had to put the question to myself of whether or not I spent my time well. And the answer? Not all of it.
And many of my mistakes are classical:
* We often fail to live in the present moment at all times. We may, for example, be planning in our heads what we need to be buying for tomorrow’s meals instead of really appreciating every mouthful or every colour of what we currently have on our plate. Or missing the beauty of the world around us because we are too wrapped up in totally unproductive, wishy-washy thought.
* We look forward to things that are coming up or even that we are wishing might happen - instead of fully appreciating what we actually have right now (We wish away our lives by wishing they were other than they are).
* We do not go out of our ways to do things that would make a difference - to our own lives, to the world, or to the lives of the people around us. Apathy is the killer of progress.
* We rush around trying to cram too much in until we no longer actually have time to enjoy the memories of the nice things we have done throughout each day or week, let alone the wonderful time we are having right now.
But what exactly do we mean by ‘spending well’?
Returning to the email I received from Jenny she says: “Time has never been wasted if something, however small, has been seen, learnt or understood. “Life is not measured by the breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.” (Anon)
According to the 18th Century French thinker, Charles Fourier, man has 12 Passions (or emotions or drives) in life which must be satisfied if he is to lead a full life. They include:
* Satisfaction of the 5 senses (also known as Luxurism): touch, sight, smell, hearing and taste
* The 4 Cardinal passions (or Groupism): friendship (all are together for the same activity, with all differences discarded), love, ambition (honour, glory, interest) and parenthood (or care and concern for the young)
* The 3 mechanising passions: the cabalist desire to achieve success and passion as a group; the flitting desire to have variety in our work; and the composite desire to mix physical and spiritual activities.
Fourier had a fascinating idea of how a group of 810 people with a different mixture of character and passion distribution and roles could form the perfect social group called a Phalanx. Indeed, experiments were actually carried out (to some success) to form such societies on 40 occasions between 1840 and 1860!
For our purposes today, it might pay us all to take a look at the list above and ask whether our own desires and passions are being satisfied?
Is your life satisfying, engaging and full of sensuous pleasures?
Part of what we mean when we say ‘spending time well’ or ‘living well’ is feeling that we are doing something worthwhile in this world or getting satisfaction from our daily chores and labours. Part of it is the feeling that we are really living inside each moment and the processes of our life richly, slowly and fully.
As Jenny said again: “Because apparently there is no time, we are losing the ability to stop and give one person our full attention, or to simply stand still, watch, and listen to what is going on around us.”
So what can we do to spend our time better?
I do not, of course, intend to dictate to you how to spend the time that is yours because all of us are different and each of us has a unique appreciation of what is great in life, great in ourselves and essentially important.
My wish for you is that you will have the time, clarity and peace of mind to live your life fully. To act in ways that you will be proud of and to really hear the robins sing…
This week I intend to borrow books from the library instead of buying them from Amazon because although it will take me longer to do so this time will be spent well. I will write a letter to my grandmother while looking out of the window. And I will appreciate the act of mothering more as a fulfillment of my natural passions than as a duty or a hindrance!
