Tick Tock, Tick Tock......

I am currently reading Tom Hodkingson's book 'How To Be Free' and felt particularly inspired by his chapter about 'Throw away your Watch'.

Tom describes an expensive watch as a "Golden Handcuff" since the more you need a watch, the more you are chained like a slave to time.  His analogy "In the olden days Jack and Jill simply went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. As they did so, we can imagine that they enjoyed a pleasant walk through nature's bounty and perhaps a chat along the way. Nowadays, Jill turns on a tap and Jack goes out to work in order to pay for taps, water rates and plumbers" also makes me think that we are missing out on simple pleasures while we rush around trying to keep up with the clock.

I have been a watch wearer from the minute I learnt to tell the time and feel a little lost if I don't wear one. So, last week when I gave being watch-less a go it felt strange to me. I don't think it's possible to be completely oblivious to the time, so I carried my cellphone with me while I was out and set a reminder message if I had the need to. But I did find that not having the time staring at me from my wrist did make me live with more intuition. For instance, I ate when I felt the first pangs of hunger, concentrated more because I was free from the added pressure of a clock ticking away to tempt me into taking short cuts, listened to Jacie intently and learnt what she was saying with her little noises and I even had a long chat with a shop keeper about amber beads when I would ordinarily rush out the door.

Because after all...... 'Time and 'Life' are synonymous.