I have been thinking a lot about how I spend my time. Time can be so fickle; sometimes it feels like it stretches on for eons, and other times it passes by in the blink of an eye. Obviously, when we are waiting for something time has never moved so slowly, and when we are avoiding a certain day or wanting to savor a particularly amazing vacation, time is moving at hyper speed! Ain’t that the way.

Of course, these are specific situations that make time move at a different pace. The kind of time that I have been reflecting on lately is the time that is between these specialized circumstances, the time spent of the every day. Waking up, going to work, extracurriculars, seeing friends and family, exercising, volunteering, going to sleep. 24 hours in a day, but where does it really go?

I think about it a lot when I hear phrases like “If you don’t love what you do, why do it at all?” or “If you love what you do you never work a day in your life.” which, truly, is a beautiful concept. But I also feel that it is a highly unrealistic concept. What I really enjoy is spending time with people that I love - I love having my friends over, I love hanging out with my family, I love spending quality time with my people. Would I love it more if I was contractually obligated to do so? If I was getting paid to do something that I love to my core, would it make me happier? Or would I feel burdened to spend time with people (people that I care about!) to get a paycheck.? I would like to say that it would be amazing to be paid to do what I love, but money has a tendency to spoil things.

This is an oversimplification of the concept, but at the same time, I do not believe we as a society should be completely defined by what we do for money. I do not want to simply be known by my job title, because Product Project Manager does not tell you anything about me as a person at all. Our jobs are likely what we spend the majority of our time on, which truthfully, is an insane concept when you think about it. Loving what you do or not, it is amazing the amount of time we put into our work. It is admirable and terrifying all at once. It is a very American notion to be defined by our job titles, and it is an identity I no longer want to subscribe to. I enjoy earning a paycheck, learning new things from my coworkers and clients, being part of something bigger than myself, but I also want to spend time doing things that feel good to me & my soul.

How do I spend my time? I already dedicate [a lot] of time to work, to my relationships, to moving my body, and enjoying the city I live in. What I want to do more of is to push myself creatively, to give more to my community, to be a better friend/partner/family member. These are endeavors worthy of time spent, these things are what will make time feel more like a friend than a foe. I want to spend less time being afraid and more time pursuing what I actually want in life. I want to spend less time feeling bad about what I am spending time on and empowering myself in knowing what I want and like is worthy of pursuit. I want to spend more time helping other people, which ultimately will be me helping myself because that it will feel good to dedicate that time to others. I want to change the way I think about time, I want to savor it and fill it with things that give me joy, instead of wishing it would speed up or slow down. I want to be rooted in the exact time that I am in, and let go of any preconceived notions of how I should be spending it.

Time is a vessel and it is up to us to choose how we spend it. I propose that we spend time making mindful choices and not by beating ourselves up about what we didn’t choose. Celebrate the time of the every day, cherish the time in between those specific moments of time moving slowly like molasses and when it sprints faster than an Olympian. The amount of time we have on Earth is finite, so make the most of it by being happy with who you are, where you are.

what i like about these guys is that they are seemingly completely UNBOTHERED by the passage of time. They like to snooze on the beach with their posse, sometimes getting up to take a dip in the water or rolling into more cool, wet sand. These critt… — what i like about these guys is that they are seemingly completely UNBOTHERED by the passage of time. They like to snooze on the beach with their posse, sometimes getting up to take a dip in the water or rolling into more cool, wet sand. These critters are extremely zen and confident in the choices that they make, and this is quite admirable in my eyes. They don’t even care that droves of people come by to snap their picture - they yawn right through it.