UNIVERSE WITHIN by Gwen Randall-Young
We were not designed to live by a clock. In the beginning, humans took life as it came. There was time to hunt, eat sleep and mate. The day started when the sun came up and ended when the sun went down. Before there was language, man was right-brain dominant, with more feeling and sensing than analytical thinking. There was little thought about the past or the future.
Interesting, isn’t it, that, when we want to de-stress, we try to stop thinking by meditating or taking a vacation where we can be out in nature and perhaps even take off our watch. We strive to achieve a much more primitive state.
When I was growing up, there were no answering machines, no cell phones or computers and only a few television channels. All mail was snail mail. If someone called when you were out, they called back later. You didn’t have to rush and check messages. A letter took about five days to reach you so things happened more slowly: there were no e-mails demanding an immediate response.
After school, I would play with a friend and I had no idea what the rest of my classmates were doing or saying – no Facebook to keep up with and gossip could not travel at the speed of a click. Without video games or electronic devices, we were left to play outside making up imaginary games or inside working our way through the stack of books we got at the library.
Of course, I am not opposed to technology; I’m just curious about how it has changed our relationship with time. But it is not just technology that has changed things. Even in my grandmother’s day, there was no need for her to take exercise classes because she was a farm wife. Today, we take classes and have our children in multiple activities. We are always on the run whilst multi-tasking all the way.
All of this creates a constant tension and the necessity to keep one eye on the clock all the time. Even teens that may not be quite as time conscious lose precious thinking or self-reflective time, as they are constantly texting and checking their phones. They know no other way.
People sometimes ask me why I think so many people take medication for depression and/or anxiety. Certainly, for some, there are biochemical reasons. However, the pace of life has to be a contributing factor. I think we are like little lab mice running on our treadmill. Slowly, slowly, without our conscious awareness, the speed of the treadmill has been steadily increasing. We get exhausted simply trying to keep up.
How can we keep our health and our sanity? We must have regular times when we get off the treadmill. It could be a yoga class, going for a hike, or simply turning off the phone and computer and curling up with a warm cup of tea and a good book. I am not talking about once in a while, but incorporating this “slow time” into your regular routine.
No time you say? John Wanamaker said, “People who cannot find time for recreation are obliged sooner or later to find time for illness.” Ironically, it is often only after one has been touched by serious illness that it becomes important to make self-care a priority. When we detach from the clock, suddenly we have all the time in the world.
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Gwen Randall-Young is an author and psychotherapist in private practice. For more of Gwen’s articles and information about her books, Self Care CDs and the new Creating Healthy Relationships series, visit www.gwen.ca. See display ad this issue.
