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August 26, 2010

Hey, Buddy, Got The Time?


For almost a year I have not worn a watch. I have not used the alarm clock. When I was still working, I would set the alarm clock but I would usually wake up before the alarm was due to startle me awake.

Unless I have an appointment there is no need to know what time it is. I don't watch television so I am not waiting for a special show. I eat when I am hungry as opposed to a certain meal time.

Just that one change in my life has brought such peace. Eliminating the need to know what time it is has given me all the time in the world.

42 comments:

ellen abbott said...

It's so true isn't it? I turned off my alarm clock when the last kid graduated from high school. And I have never worn a watch. Lately, the only time I want to know what time it is is when I wake up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep.

Opaque said...

So true! Even I wake up before the alarm clock. However, I wear a watch so that I can keep a track of time. I am a very punctual person, and since I have appointments to keep, I need a watch. But, I agree with you here.

Brian Miller said...

my cell has become my watch...the cell being another necessary evil...i look forward to the day i can get rid of time keepers and cell phones...

DJan said...

But... I LIKE knowing what time it is, and I still have all the time in the world, TB. I catch a bus and need to know when to leave the house; a class that starts at a certain time. But we're all different, thank goodness!

Debbie said...

I love that feeling. To me, that is the feeling of being on vacation:)

Kazzy said...

Wow, sounds really relaxing and free. I like it!

Anne H said...

It's always "now" anyways, right?
Love ya, TechnoBabe -
Be well! :D

Jeanie said...

It sounds very freeing. My life is still pretty much ruled by the clock, at least during the week, right now. I look forward to a time when it is not.

Jeni said...

Unfortunately, with so many appointments cluttering our lives here -kids and their therapy, the time the van arrives to pick Kurt up for his school, doctor visits for all four of us and more of those coming up now for me -no way can we get away with not watching the time. I don't have an alarm clock in my room -mainly because I have to place available (no room at the inn, as it were) to set an alarm clock within easy sight and reach of the darned thing unless I were to hang it from the ceiling! LOL There's a novel approach maybe? My sleep patterns -which thankfully -have begun to improve a bit this week -are still so sporadic that I have to have someone, something, somewhere though to let me know what time it is and how much time I have available in order to get to my appointments, get the kids off to their programs, get my self up and ready even just to get to church on Sunday mornings too. So many constraints still in place but maybe one of these days I'll get my system adjusted and have it set on automatic pilot, well sort of, anyway.
Peace and have a great day, my friend!

Unknown said...

Gosh; I have more than 13 watches and 6 wall clocks at home. But only one alarm clock.

I am a very punctual guy, so the need of a reliable watch. And as you already know, I love buying them too :)

Dave King said...

I've just tumbled it... you're a teenager! I hadn't realised.

Liz Mays said...

I stopped about the same time you did, but only because my batteries all ran out and I got sick of replacing them all the time. Now I just check my cell phone if I must know what time it is.

TALON said...

My Mom has a saying ,

"Eat when you're hungry
Drink when you're dry
To bed when you're weary
To heaven when you die"

and I think that's the secret of a great life. When we don't need to worry about schedules and time...if only it were possible all the time.

I've never used an alarm clock - I just always wake up when I need to and when I suffered nerve damage in my left hand and arm, I stopped wearing a watch when I was wearing a brace and I've never gone back to wearing one...about 8 years now. I don't miss it either!

Kulio said...

Yes! I always set my mental alarm clock and it never fails me :-) Never wear a watch (but usually try to hang around people who do). :-)

Ojibwe Confessions said...

cool! :)

Kristina P. said...

I wish I could be this free!

gerry boyd said...

since time is illusory anyway, I agree that we do not need to constantly know what time it is.

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

Oh my, mine went off at four thirty this mornin'....just call me grumpy. No, not really, I get up happy in a spastic sort of way! Heeehehehe!!!

God bless ya and have a beautiful day!!!

Robert the Skeptic said...

I used to make wooden clocks with a face like that... all the numbers fallen to the bottom. It was a joke clock. But people thought the clocks were broken and didn't buy them. [sigh]

Hilary said...

I know the feeling. I haven't used an alarm clock more than 3 times in probably as many years.. now that the younger son is responsible enough for his own awkenings. I recently forgot my watch at home while I was away for a week and didn't miss it one bit. I could get used to this.

secret agent woman said...

I wish I didn't have to use an alarm clock but I have kids to get to school and me to work. And I have to have a clock in my office to track session time. But I stopped wearing a watch about 7 years ago.

Stickup Artist said...

It all sounds great to me and I'm looking forward to one day putting those timekeepers down for good and live by natural rhythms like we get to do when we find the time to go camping. We have given up TV, which was very easy and that makes a huge positive impact.

Casey Freeland said...

Oh, not me my friend. I am time oriented, have always been time oriented. I blame it on radio... sort of. I have an uncanny sense of seconds for obvious reasons with radio. I can stop the microwave in that split second after the timer goes to zero, but before the beeper signals it's done.

OK, I'll stop. :)

Cheers,

Casey

terri said...

I haven't worn a watch for years, and I too find that I have much less need to constantly check the time.

heartinsanfrancisco said...

Lovely, and so very true! Most of us live our entire lives tyrannized by time, while freeing oneself from this is grounding in an entirely different way. Enjoy being truly alive every day to the fullest.

Gail Is This Mutton? said...

Do you find that you instinctively know what time it is, without using watches and clocks?

Bill Lisleman said...

People don't have time to think about time. Sad isn't it?

Just imagine life before clocks. I have not worn a watch for such a long time because I don't like things on my wrist.

Even people that don't use clocks much I bet still get upset when the clock is off.

stinkypaw said...

So very true. The only thing (for me) is the fact that my internal clock isn't in sink with the sun, thus me being a night owl when society in general is oriented towards the sun, argh.

Claudya Martinez said...

I took an Alexander Technique class one of my classmates gave us all wristwatches (that she made) that said, "I have time."

Maude Lynn said...

I am consumed with envy. And, I mean that.

Syd said...

I pay much less attention to time now. It is great to be retired.

Debby@Just Breathe said...

It sounds wonderful to me. I too don't need to watch the time but I find that it flies by very fast when I'm on the computer. I waste my days here, in a good productive way but I am not taking time to enjoy life. Even when I needed to set an alarm I always wake before it goes off!

Ina in Alaska said...

I have some beautiful watches but now mainly use my iPhone to tell me what time it is. Loved the picture of the clothes hanging on the line a few posts below this one, so colorful! Happy weekend!!! xoxo

The Urban Cowboy said...

I haven't worn a watch for over a year also. Though I do have to rely on my cell phone at times.

beth said...

wow...you amaze me !
i have a clock everywhere and the only time i don't care what time it is, is on vacation.....

Cricket said...

No watch for me, either. If I need to be somewhere, I'm usually in my car which has a clock.

I love those "whatever clocks." I think they have an inherent irony, though. It'd be better with seven or eight hands of varying sizes. Now that would be "whatever."

Cheryl Kohan said...

Oh, gosh, I totally agree...haven't used an alarm clock for years. I don't wear a watch, either. I agree with Brian...my cell phone is my new "watch", so to speak. I was just thinking not long ago that wrist watches might just become obsolete!

Suldog said...

It's true. Not wearing a watch, and not setting alarms, frees the mind. I still need to be certain places at certain times, but I never wear a watch. Haven't since I was a teenager. Amazingly, I am never late, and I hardly ever worry about time.

Unknown said...

I don't usually wear a watch, but with the kids schedules I do need to be on routine.
But I wake up before the alarm , regardless of how early or tired, I probably dream about missing it

Unknown said...

I love this.
You are wise.

Marla said...

When I read this, I absolutely, positively envied you. What a great way to live life....by actually living it.

Wandering Coyote said...

I saw a whole bunch of this kind of clock on my recent camping trip/vacation and I thought they were brilliant. I was actually tempted to buy one that said "Kootenay Time" on it, but I am on a budget! Really, I am!