life in motion

Tuesday, March 19, 2013









How often do you think about slowing time? I think about it a lot. Probably three to four times a year I actually google, ways to slow time, looking for tricks I can use to make time appear to slow down or stand still. Do you ever wonder if it is something we can control? 

One of my favorite books is Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman. It is a beautifully written book on the meditations of time through fictional tales of what Einstein may have been dreaming as he developed his Theory of Relativity. The pages are filled with poetic passages which make you question the very essence of time and our relationship to it. Each chapter takes a different look at time's possibility. Listen to a few. 

If time stood still.
If time were a visible dimension.
If time were not a quantity but a quality.
If time passed fitfully.
If time were a sense.
If events are triggered by other events, not by time.
If one memory becomes your life. 

What I am seeking in my relationship to time is to find a way to stop the feeling that life is just rushing by in a blur. I want to find a way to make moments really sink in and stand out. Make memories deep and ingrain them in me. That way, when I look back on the week, I don't think another week just went by. I will be able to recall and mark time passing by individual moments. The warm sun fading at the beach as all four girls made capes from their towels and ran into the wind. The squeak of her sippy cup as she slipped into cuddle and drink her milk in the still dark morning. The feeling when the final stroke completed the painting. 

Recently I offered a prescription to see. I've got another one.


Tips for Slowing Time. 

• stare at the horizon, a moving bank of clouds, or the wind.

• observe the angle of the sun on your rug or wood floor. stay long enough to watch it move.

• anticipate.

• sit down to enjoy a conversation with someone. ask questions, then really listen. 

• stand at the edge of the sea.

• find a cozy spot in your home to lounge. look around at things from a new angle, find ease.

• walk out into the night, notice the luminescence. 

• travel.

• inhale deeply, while you kiss your child. my dad did this with us until the day he passed away. he was literally taking us in. 

• watch children play.

• scour music and find your song of the season. put it on repeat until it becomes that time period. return to it when needed.

• arrive early, then just sit and observe things around you.

• take a walk somewhere you have never been.

• have an impromptu dance party.

• make a bonfire. 

• take dinner outside. set a beautiful table and watch the evening fade into night.


Do you do this, try and slow time? What seems to slow it for you? I'd love to know!


14 comments:

  1. i love this, i wish i had written this, its beautiful, its made me stop and think, i want to hold it and explore it! thank you xxxxx

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  2. oh, you are such a beautiful writer and you bring up so many thoughts that cross my mind but i never can quite articulate. so thank you! i think about this all the time with two little ones. i think about how fast they grow. and how i just want to bottle up all their idiosyncrasies. write down all the funny things they say and take lots of pictures and videos, but it never happens. life happens and i realize i have to look to the future because that is where the happiness is.
    i would have to say that meditation and yoga are my ways for slowing time down. it makes me feel content in the moment.
    thanks, karina :) you rock and i love your blog!
    xoxo-
    molly
    xoxo-molly

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    1. i'm the same. i keep thinking i need to take more video, more pictures, but life just scoots by. i always feel like if i can capture a few good shots and video a year, i am doing good. after spring break, i am going to get back into yoga, i know it is something that would totally add to my life. xx

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  3. I love this too! It's always so refreshing coming to your space. Sometimes I feel like coming here is my new yoga practice (since getting out to an actual yoga class has not happened since the little one arrived seven months ago). :) I actually feel like keeping up with my blog is a way for time to slow down for me. I enjoy coming back to the pictures and words I posted every now and then. Blogging has helped me remember so much that I would have forgotten if I hadn't blogged about it first. Plus, carrying my camera around where ever I go has helped me to see the little things and wait for certain "better light" to capture moments. I will take your ideas and try some out! Thank you for another wonderful, meaningful post!

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    1. ha, thanks! but i hear you about getting out to exercise and I actually have no excuse, my littles are not so little anymore. i agree about blogging, it is a way for me to slow down and think and express things inside. i love that about it. and taking pictures, being thoughtful. all good stuff. :)

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  4. this is beautiful. i feel like life is traveling by me so fast lately, not even sure how long it's been since i've just sat around, enjoying. that's why travel on a beach with a touch of adventure must be on my horizon. that is the time that i get to relax, look around and take it all in. I need to incorporate stillness and slowing down in everyday life....not just on my getaways.

    i love that you remember how your dad kissed you guys and would take you in, what a beautiful thing to remember and i hope one day my girls can remember me inhaling their being every time I squeeze them.

    if only...time were not a quantity but a quality.


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    1. sitting on the beach the other day was so nice. i really feel like incorporating those moments are so important for the girls and us. i feel like that is the goal, to have our kids really remember certain things about us. my dad inhaling was always such a strong memory. i guess when you do things repeatedly, they really become ingrained. good to know, right ;)

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  5. Love this, Karina. I am going to think about your list and try all of them. For me, staying off the computer (and technology in general) slows time. I can hear, smell, taste, see, feel when I'm not in front of a screen. I guess that's pretty obvious though!

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    1. You are absolutely right about staying offline, hours can pass in minutes. I sense you have a pretty great balance in this area. I admire that. xx

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  6. OK, I haven't been reading blogs much lately but then you start blogging again and I'm hooked. Thanks for adding moments of art into my day (I do not get enough of it), making me think outside of the box and help me reflect. I covet my childhood memories-smells, images, feelings...so much. I find time slows down for me when we are all out in the yard, sun on our skin, taking in the garden and hanging with the hens. The boys just run around and climb trees...bliss to me. And I love observation from different angles and light.

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    1. Thanks Allison. I think time outside is so key too. You've created a beautiful space outside and it's so nice to sit and enjoy it. Fresh air makes everyone happier.

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  7. I just discovered your blog (via Jora) -- this post is really beautiful and hits on exactly what's been on my mind of late. I have a 2.5 year old and a baby, and never have I felt so fully cognizant of the fleeting nature of time. Thank you.

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    1. Hi Rachel, thanks so much for coming by. Having children really does change everything in relation to time, it's crazy. I guess so does getting older. But you're right, these days with littles are really the most precious and the most fleeting. Hug tight :)

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