about time
I am a day late in writing this post, because I ran out of time. I was so deep in writing that I hit one of those moments when all sense of time disappeared. And suddenly it wasn’t Sunday any more.
I know when I am working, when I am truly in flow, when I stop being aware of time. Hours pass in seconds. Time becomes elastic. And I am utterly absorbed. Often this isn’t an easy place to be: carving out uninterrupted time is extremely challenging with family and other demands. And once I get enough alone time to slip into this liminal space it’s tough: doing the work is challenging, frustrating, takes focus. Rarely does it flow with ease all effortless and lyrical. And when it’s music that I’m making, I find it extra-frustrating trying to get the sound out of my head and into the world in a form I can share and others can hear. So that’s where my time disappeared. Into writing songs. And that in itself feels like a massive indulgence: using our most precious commodity, time, to make something like a song. It can feel very silly and sometimes the ring of past voices comes back: that it’s a tedious, ridiculous delusion. A laughable hobby. A waste of time.
But the work is its own cure. And I like it better than being loved and praised.
Time is one of the greatest mysteries of life. I particularly am fascinated by how time is present in around us. In quantum physics it is theoretically possible for time to run backwards. We model our own universes to cope with this. You are looking at me and I’m looking at you and we are ruled by the speed of light - which is finite. So I am looking at you and you are looking at me in the past. And there is no such thing as now.
This week in landscapes and in songs time was very present.The photo is from a trip to Cornwall. Called Trevothy Quoit, it was built somewhere between 4,500 - 6,000 years ago. You can still climb through the little entrance way and touch the stones. Bodmin moor is littered with such ancient touchstones: instant time travel.
The space and the place inspired several song ideas: songs are an incredible form of communication, especially in how they boss us around for time. You can pack a lifetime into 3 minutes, and that lifetime can be described poetically about one second. Poems, novels, films can all transport you through time, but a song has it all there and takes you on the trip through time. So that’s what I’ve been creating this week. I will share the music as I get it recorded. Thank you for reading and it would be wonderful if you felt able to share how you’ve been spending your time too.