Time

{So lemme get something off my chest real quick.  This is only semi-related to this post but I really need to unload a burden that's been eating away at me since 1995.  When I was a freshman in Mr. Sanderson's honor's English class we did what was called "timed writings".  Whatever book we were reading at the time was the topic and we'd have the hour of class to compose an essay about it.  Well, I was pretty good at these for some reason.  So good that on a few occasions I got an A+ regarding books that I never actually read.  I mean didn't even open.  I didn't even fully read the cliff notes, I'd just skim over the most important points at 7:15am before my first period class.  So there it is.  I have no idea what The Grapes of Wrath is about, nor do I care, but I just had to get that off my cheater-cheater-pumpkin-eater chest.  I feel better.}

Moving on.  I got to thinking the other day about time.  I'm lucky enough to stay at home with my kids.  We have our routine and sometimes it gets so monotonous I lose track of what day it is.  Because honestly, it doesn't even matter too much what day it is.  I have no boss or deadlines to meet. I do what needs to be done and if there is time left over, I do whatever the heck I want.  So I got to wondering what life would be like if we didn't keep track of time, days, years etc.  Then of course I decided to google "Is there a culture that doesn't keep track of time?" because I pretty much google EVERYTHING.

Turns out there is.  A tiny tribe of people in Brazil that live along the Maici River.  Basically this anthropologist spent years studying this culture's language and found that they don't have words for numbers, past or future tenses and no subordinate clauses (Ex. First I'm going to eat breakfast, then I will take a shower).  They are only concerned with the here and now.  The present is the only thing of any importance.  Am I the only one completely intrigued by this?  These people have brains just like us.  (Unlike animals, who don't have the mental capacity to understand the concept of time, don't have memories of what happened before and can't predict what will happen in the future.)  Yet, they live this way, only worried about what is happening at this exact moment.

How would our lives be different if we stopped keeping track of time?  Stopped looking back or forward and just lived?  It seems like it's human nature to want to reflect back, or to plan ahead for things...but apparently not for every human.  We all know we are going to die someday, but what if we didn't know exactly how old we were or what age certain things happen?  Would we live our life differently without that ticking clock?  Would we seize each day?

I know that this thinking is kind of unrealistic, but maybe just a little more enjoying the moment and less worrying about the next would do us all some good.  (Easy for me to say...Ms.Thursdays are Fridays and woo-hoo it's Saturday, nope it's actually Friday.)  And if it seems like I write about this kind of thing a lot, it's only because I really do need to remind myself.  Put the phone down, close the laptop, turn off the TV, stop thinking about all the events on the calender and be here, really be here.

You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. -Henry David Thoreau