Befriending Time
Using the writing process to comfort me in my quest to explore
Every quarter I write an essay for the online magazine Elan Vitae. In the Fall 2024 issue, we are exploring our relationship with Time. I know what you are thinking because I was thinking it, too—the concept of time is huge! How could I write about time and give it guardrails so that I didn’t wander off into some esoteric realm and end up at a destination that wasn’t meaningful to me and my daily life? This was the challenge.
If you know me, you know I like challenges. So I jumped in with both feet, but I also brought along my comfort zone—the writing process. I allowed how I approach the writing process to guide me in my quest to explore time. If you’re wondering how it went, here’s a teaser:
“Time is a tricky alliance. It is always with us—stretching out before us in what I imagine as big loops and paths complete with periodic crossroads—and yet it also feels like it is slipping away from us as we walk its length over our lives. How can we befriend time so we can be in the present moment, hold the past lightly with appreciation, and look to the future with curiosity rather than judgment or expectation?
It seems like a big aspiration when I see it written out on the page. And yet, when I think about how I engage with the writing process, I can believe it is an aspiration that isn’t as far off as it sounds.
I talk about the concept of time with my book-coaching clients frequently. When you are writing, time can feel elusive. Some of my more common discussions center around finding time to write and not “procrastinating” when it comes to writing. I am using quotations here because I don’t believe in procrastination. I happen to think that what people often look at as procrastination in writing (and other things as well) is actually more about process than the act of purposely delaying or postponing.
I view time as a landscape of writing. The key to befriending the time landscape is allowing for it in your process. Writing is a practice. And any practice relies on some kind of process. What I find with myself and my clients is that ideas need to be courted. Creativity and inspiration need to be nurtured. When you engage in writing or any creative endeavor, you need to build trust in that relationship, which requires extra time and space. Ideas cannot be rushed, and if you don’t give them the care and attention that they need, they won’t collaborate with you.”
If you are interested in reading the rest of the story, you can read the full essay HERE (https://www.elanvitae.com/single-post/befriending-time)
I hope you enjoy it. I realized when I was writing it that I had more ideas about time that I wanted to explore, but they weren’t part of that particular essay. And as I shared earlier, Time is such a broad concept that it begs a little more contemplation.
This month I’ve been doing a little more writing around the concept. Will I share these pieces somewhere else? I don’t know yet. This writing may be just for me.
I think sometimes people forget that you can write for yourself. Not everything that is written needs to be shared. Are you writing anything just for you right now? Sometimes, those bits and pieces end up going into something that is shared later on, and sometimes they stay in the notebook or on your laptop. Are the pieces you purposefully share more important than the ones you don’t share? I don’t think so.
Sometimes what you don’t share is the most important thing you can write.