Time Suspended

Time has taken on a strange new dimension during this COVID-19 pandemic. It no longer pushes and demands. It’s just there. 

The minutes don’t count like they once did. Being on time isn’t critical when there are few, if any places, to go. The hours don’t matter as much either since they are largely spent at home. 

The morning workday pace is gone. My office is 10 feet from my bed and I can quickly throw on something respectable. With my iPad and a few clicks I no longer worry about getting to the store before it closes for milk or orange juice. 

On Sunday mornings I can roll out of bed and tune into an online service. One Sunday I forgot to “attend” online worship because the day felt like all the others.

I have three calendars posted around the house simply to remind me of the month, date, and day of the week. And even then, it’s hard to remember the date without peeking at my iPhone.

Normal is indeed a long way off. Each week brings news of the cancellation of another event or celebration I use to mark time. No 4th of July parade or fireworks. No opening day of baseball. No Rose Bowl parade. No family reunion. 

Rescheduling pivotal events is even more problematic. The Indy 500 will be run in August, rather than Memorial Day weekend so for a brief time I’ll think summer is just beginning. 

Days are now measured in large chunks of time. Morning and new light. Evening and fading light. Night with it’s darkness. I’m adjusting to this tremendously simplified way to measure time.

An unexpected sensation is that I have more time. Yet I have exactly the same 24 hours. What’s changed is my perception of time. Most tasks and issues can wait until tomorrow. When time is no longer broken into minutes and seconds it is stripped of its tyranny. 

Privately, I’m enjoying this new relationship with time. It’s challenging me to prioritize when outside forces no longer perform that task. It’s providing a welcome breather from the normal pace of life. Maybe this side effect of the pandemic is just what this time weary culture needs.