3 Ways to Slow Time
Sponsored by Skagen
I've been thinking a lot about time recently. It must be to do with the sudden realisation that I don't have toddlers any more. It might be because I have a lovely new watch (more of that below), it might be the reality that I am not in my twenties... or thirties... It's an odd one, it can grip me in the middle of the night, or it can suddenly all seem fine, and not mean a thing. I know about meditation, and I practise it when I remember to, and I know about being present - I am at my happiest and most productive when I'm not worrying about the passing of time. But then there are moments when none of those things seem tangible, and the realisation that we're chugging through the days of our lives and that life appears to be going incredibly fast takes hold. I actually googled 'how to slow life down' about six months ago. Yup.
Here are a few things which have helped me recently.
1. Rethink the way you view it. According to the brilliant Alan Watts, life is best understood as a dance and a song. We are not born to reach a destination. It's not even a journey, not even a pilgrimage. We are supposed to be living the music, not the finale, not the intro, the coda. We aren't supposed to be aiming for the final leap in the air as the chords come to a crashing end. Otherwise what would be the point of the music, the dance, and surely that is the best bit. It's not linear, it's fluid, circular sometimes, and it sure as eggs is eggs is a mind-blowingly impossible part of our existence to get to grips with.
I heard once that it's perfectly possible that human beings used to be able to live to a way greater age than our current life-expectancy. It was only once we started putting a limit on our lives that our brains and bodies concurred and accordingly we obeyed the subliminal messages. Makes sense if you think about how we believe so much of what we are taught by adults about ourselves and the world and existence when we are children, only to start looking at those beliefs as an adult ourselves and realising they were someone else's take on everything, not our own, and that we have the choice about what we believe we are capable of, and about who we believe we are at our core. And about existence, life and what's important.
2. Take time for yourself. I was recently approached by the super beautiful Danish-inspired watch brand Skagen to see if I wanted to help promote their new range of Smart Watches. Did I want to be reminded of the passing of time with some bulky, hi-tech, potentially complicated guilt-inducing machine? I was dubious. I was invited to a gorgeous morning of Hygge at an upstairs cafe in Fitzrovia, London, which had been decorated with sheepskin, garlands, twinkling lights, and which smelt of delicious coffee - all so warming and inspiring on a cold November morning. Laid out on grey slabs of stone and wood were their new range of hybrid smart watches. They are stylish, classic, cool and beautiful, just as you would expect from Skagen. And when I discovered that such a watch would measure my sleep, tell me when my loved ones are trying to call me, increase or decrease the volume of my music, look beautiful on my wrist (highly important!), I not only discovered that they are all that you wish for in a simple, elegant and timeless watch, but that it was a pretty good way to make sure I was making the most of the time I'm living right now.
My Dad told me when I was younger that life is not there to be saved up, it's there to be spent. We are suppose to spend our lives. We don't need to be stingy with our lives, with ourselves, with our experience. As I mentioned above, we need to just love the existence, love the dance, the song, and not be striving towards an ending or a moment where it all comes together. That won't ever come, we will only be confused and disappointed if that's what we're working towards.
I chose the Signatur T-Bar Hybrid Smartwatch in Rose Gold-Tone with a Steel-Mesh strap design. I have to say that it is gorgeous, and I was assured by a lady from Skagen that the strap will not tarnish or blacken like other mesh straps I've come across. It is ridiculously simple to set up - you download the Skagen Connected app and you're suddenly dealing with that logical, straightforward user-friendly design we associate with Scandinavia. Much like a flatpack - its ease of construction belies the intricately imagined and designed workings and technology.
3. Spend time with things and people you love. Stroking pets, reading with children, playing games with my family, cooking, walking, travelling. All these activities do actually slow it all down. And painting too. I can think I've been painting for an hour, and it's only been thirty minutes. Anything that takes us out of our active brain, and lets us relax it for a while, does actually slow time down. Holidays and travel give the impression that time has stretched out a little for us. We change it up, we have new experiences, and suddenly we feel as if we've lived a month of experiences in a couple of days. It got me thinking about Scandinavia. As a child we had a string of lovely au pairs from Sweden mostly, and one from Norway (but she didn't approve of children singing at the table!). I have very early memories of their cooking. Sticky, sugary, cinnamon bread, gingerbread biscuits. My earliest memory is surprisingly early - it was a trip to Sweden when I was one year old. I remember the staircase, dark and wooden. It was a tall, thin staircase. The floors creaked. There was a balcony on the house and it was in a forest. Although I could hardly talk, I remember understanding language. Our au pair, Anne, was telling us about wolves in the forest. It must have made an impression on me and I want to go back to that part of the world, also to Denmark this time. And this watch has got me thinking that I'd love to take the time to visit Skagen which is a place in Denmark where the North Sea meets the Baltic Sea, a beautiful little town on the North Jutlandic Island which has drawn a large community of artists to it over many years due to its natural beauty.
Photo of Skagen, Denmark, (above) by Sandro Katalina
Just that information alone summons elemental images of sky, water, blue, grey, stone - a windy wildness where you can gulp lungfuls of fresh air and feel like each one is feeding your spirit and soul. The brand was started by a husband and wife. It started with love. Their watches are simple, clean, sophisticated and... timeless. Maybe, just maybe, my new watch will hold a magic power and slow my days right down to the speed of gently lapping water over my toes...
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