Alison S R Wallace
Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of:
of: A
Modern Interpretation
I’ve come to see that the secret to happy and fulfilled life lies in the answer to two fundamental questions:
1.
What are you doing with your life?
2.
What are you doing today?
Duncan Bannatyne, How to be smart with your time, 2010
Time is one of the hardest things we have to live with. It is ever present, ever pressing,
ever wasted. We are all equal before time and we are all beholden to time. Before
death it is an hourglass rather than a halo that crowns our heads. Our hearts beat and
our lungs breath in unison with a ticking clock. Our memory stretches back in time
and our hopes stretch forward. It is an exhausting force from which we cannot escape,
but in order to embrace life, must learn to control.
In Franklin’s quote to squander time would mean to squander life. The symbiosis of
worthwhile living and time is fundamental to being human and felt by American
Presidents of the past and people of the present. In the modern age, time management
and there by life management, is a pressing concern. How you spend your time
becomes what you do and what you do becomes who you are. Modern life and
modern equipment is focused on saving time. We have either consciously or
unconsciously embraced this from household appliances to handheld devices. We
have bought into streamline and efficiency and, as much as possible, to have everything
in once place, to view at anytime. Action in isolation is unnecessary, we can text, shop,
read novels, watch films, pay bills and listen to music from one time saving device. We
can consolidate, fast track, schedule and Go Compare to save time. While Franklin
rightly advocates that we should not squander time, I assert that there is limited risk of
this today: our mentality is time is to be saved and not wasted. But time is not money.
Time cannot be contained in the universe, let alone in a purse. Whilst to squander
time is to squander life, in our current world we are focused on saving something that
can in fact only be continuously spent.
We are bombarded by instances where time is conjoined with the accumulation of
material things or experiences. As a result of this, we can be susceptible to viewing time
through a futuristic model of acquisition... car, degree, job, house, husband, children,
dog. Worse yet, time can be seen as a barrier between the now and achieving our
desired holiday, salary, clothing, lover or family. This modern trajectory, I fear,
removes us from the love of life we could find in the present. While Franklin’s quote
may address squandering time through a lotus eating idleness, this seems less relevant in
our time conscious age. I assert that time is now squandered by our constant
projections into future, unlived or never lived lives, rather than finding joy in the here
and now. As opposed to enjoying the steadiness of growth and progress we can
perhaps be accused of seeking hits of immediate gratification and acknowledgement.
Rather than standing on the raft of a present moment in the sea of time, we are instead
floundering, constantly treading water in an ocean of options or worse yet stood on the
shore, unable to show appreciation or make decisions. This is epitomised by urban
dictionary’s ‘FOMO’– fear of missing out and for many my age, a ‘quarter life crisis’. 1
This contemporary relationship with time saving is not “the stuff life is made of”. In
begrudging the unstoppable spending of time we are overlooking the investment, which
could be made in our happiness and each other. History’s great men and women are
remembered for how they spent their time not how they saved, or squandered, it. The
question I wish we would ask ourselves is not “How can I save time?” but rather “How
am I spending my time?” Active reflection on our daily lives and investing our time in
what we love to do or what will improve ourselves, equates to a love of life and a deeper
happiness and level of satisfaction than aiming to live an existence as effective and
efficient as possible. A mindfulness of who we are and what we have now creates a
gratitude for our daily experiences and situation in live. In this fast world, I feel we are
encouraged to aspire (particularly regarding material consumption) and strive but not to
savour. Whilst we must always, in the wise words of the thirtieth American president
“Press On” for progress and seek to improve our situation in life, time must also be
taken to relish the journey already made and comfort of the destination.
Clare Cohen, ‘Do you have a fear of missing out?’, The Telegraph Online, May 16th 2013.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10061863/FoMo-Do-you-have-a-Fear-of-Missing-Out.html October
28th 2013.
1
Franklin’s words are about us making the most of life, in the knowledge that time is
the beating heart of all we do. If is not the discipline we lack, it is perhaps the courage
to truly decide how we wish to spend our time and cultivate our loves. To be master of
time does not require an app, a diary, 4oD or endlessly lists: we should not act the
oarsmen battling Hokusai’s Wave.2 It is through understanding, not exertion that we
can accept that loving life is about what you do every day, embracing the personal
growth and opportunity that passing time brings.
In the twenty first century, where we have embraced a sedentary, on screen and online
lifestyle it would be simple to deduce that our digital culture - centred on the inert
activity of watching television - results in the squandering of time. This essay is not the
forum for debate the value of passive entertainment. Instead, I assert that we are
instead extremely waste conscious when it comes to the passing of time; this is certainly
due to the linking of wasted time with wasted money. What I derive from Franklin’s
quote is that in life there is wasting time and there is time well wasted. To love life, do
not attempt to save time, but spend to avoid squander.
By Alison Wallace
2
Katsushika, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, c.1829 – 1832.