Time Flies...

Week 2

Time Flies... 

January 7, 2011

I don't know about you, but I couldn't tell you half of the things I did last week. If I thought about it long and hard I bet I couldn't hit 75%. Maybe it's my questionable memory faculties, I tell you the truth when I say I forget stuff constantly. Where was I? Oh yeah... last week. While I couldn't tell you what I did with some of my time, I know that none of it involved taking pictures. I'd know... I'd have the proof on my hard drive or in a film canister as evidence. The above image was actually taken at the end of the prior week. "Really? Aren't you, like, a photographer and stuff?" Well, yes I am. I apparently got caught up in other aspects of my business. Things like preparing for shoots, marketing, networking and communicating with clients, editing, etc... and before you know it, it's next week. Well, this week. Anyway, there is a substantial amount of time that seems to have just vanished. Some of it was probably following some random link on Facebook, or reading that extra chapter in the mystery novel, or dinner at a friends house, but some of it is just... gone. I can't account for it.

Which leads me to this week's blog topic. I know, I know - you look at the image above and say "really?"... gravesite... time... you think I'm gonna go into a depressing essay on death. Well lucky you, I'm doing no such thing. I did think it was a nice image, though. Plus it got me thinking about how all these people were put on this earth for a given amount of time, and now they are not here. There is a definitive, non-negotiable amount of time we have, and none of us are given a glimpse into what that allowance is.

If you were given a sealed envelope, and told it was all the money you had to spend at the grocery store, or farmer's market, or some other place you could find things you needed or wanted, what would you buy first? Remember, this is a sealed envelope that you can't peek into. Would you start off with some staples like bread, rice and milk? Or would you go straight to the ice cream aisle and take the gamble that you'd have enough to get the things you needed to be nourished?

Money in this example (albeit an oversimplified one) is of course the time we are given here on this planet. Where are you spending yours? I know I've spent WAY too much time over the decades stocking up on ice cream instead of cruising the organic veggies section, and would like to re-assess the risks I'm taking. I'm positive that my shopping cart will find its way to the candy aisle from time to time, and I think that's ok, even healthy. For me, though, I'm going to try to remember that the only resource I'm given each day I wake up is the time I have that day. I can choose to use it by building people up or tearing them down. I can take care of my body with exercise and nourishing food, or give it quick-fixes like caffeine and hamburgers. I can be disciplined about my business or just do the things I enjoy about it. In short, I can make an effort to be purposeful in everything that I do, or I can allow distractions to keep me from staying on the course I've set.  I think there is joy and satisfaction in choosing the former in each case, and after all, we have no idea when our allowance will be up.

image taken with Canon 5DMII, 24-70 2.8L lens, 1/200sec @f2.8, ISO 100