Time in a Bottle
by Therèse Tappouni

This is part of an ongoing conversation I’ve been having with people since my musing on “the hounds of heaven at my heels.”I know, in my brain, that time does not speed up or slow down. However, the fact that we perceive it that way is enough—time appears to be going faster. My mom used to say that as she got older. With her family, art, volunteering and visits to the doctor, she found it hard to squeeze in exercise and reading. “There aren’t enough minutes in the day,” she would tell me frequently. As I talk to friends, they mourn the lack of time to accomplish all they must accomplish without beginning tomorrow in the hole. It’s as if we think we can “save’ time—like that beautiful song “Time in a Bottle.” I wonder if we did, wouldn’t we think about time like money in the bank and just spend it anyway?

The past months have challenged me mightily to stay on track, to allot time daily for meditation, relationships, and joyful choices. I began, as most people do, to find the joy in the work I’m doing and my relationships. That way, it’s not like I have to carve out a piece of the time pie and set it aside for joy. This is a good thing. However, meditation opportunities are not often found in our work time. Vacations can’t be taken in the back office with the phone on. Nurturing our sacred side must be conscious and purposeful.

So, finally, Lance and I are taking a vacation! Thanks to the wonderful gift of a friend, we are going to read, rest, write and meditate in her mountain cabin near Ashville, North Carolina for a whole week! As it gets closer, I tell Lance how I haven’t completed a project that’s due in three weeks; that gas is too expensive; that my class won’t have a teacher just when it has grown to the perfect size. It’s as if the constant busyness has become a part of my inner workings and I can’t recall just “being.”

So, finally, Lance and I are taking a vacation! Thanks to the wonderful gift of a friend, we are going to read, rest, write and meditate in her mountain cabin near Ashville, North Carolina for a whole week! As it gets closer, I tell Lance how I haven’t completed a project that’s due in three weeks; that gas is too expensive; that my class won’t have a teacher just when it has grown to the perfect size. It’s as if the constant busyness has become a part of my inner workings and I can’t recall just “being.”