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The Myth of Time

To save you time, I will start this article with the ultimate conclusion about time. Time is something we cannot control, and I have personally failed many times in trying to use it optimally. However, the idea I want to propose is that utilizing time is looking at it from the wrong perspective. Let's let time be as it is and live as we are, coexisting rather than battling for dominance, because time always wins... eventually. This idea is embodied in a quote I found in an Instagram story by my Saudi artist friend Muath Al-Oufi: "We know well that we cannot add time to our lives, but we can add life to our time."



I have accepted this as the main idea of the article, as it gives us the freedom to fail and then add life from another perspective. I don't know who originally said this quote, and it doesn't matter to me. While wasting my time on Instagram, I found my answer. The question here is, was that a waste of time? I was avoiding searching for something to write about with my point of view and regarding relationship with time, but it is always present in our subconscious, watching and counting the days until the article is due (I am in the final hours before the deadline). Or does inspiration come when the mind is ready to be inspired... and that itself requires enough time for rest. What is the fine line between utilizing time and resting? What is the definition of utilization? Should there be tangible results, or is relaxation an acceptable outcome? Or is it a cost? This question also applies to hobbies: if not monetized, are they a waste or a use of time?

 

Writing and thinking about this article happened during the holy month of Ramadan and the days of Eid al-Fitr. These are "times" of the year when seconds and minutes play a crucial role in fasting and breaking the fast. It is difficult to utilize time during these periods, and people differ on how they use it, especially regarding worship, and work... with many examples.

 

The funny thing is that my concept of time completely changed when I got a bit sick after Eid and was forced to rest. I then thought that the article's deadline had passed and that I had exhausted myself searching and documenting ideas for the article, only to miss the deadline at the last moment. At the same "time," this gave me the freedom I wanted during the Eid days before starting work. The panic, regret, feelings of failure, and disappointment disappeared, transforming into a mere passing memory of an article never submitted. Yet, everything around me reminds me of it. The thought struck me that time is capable of solving everything... and how to balance the principle of patience (which by definition requires time) with the principle of initiative and action? Are these contradictions? Also, without time, we would not feel regret, failure, or nostalgia... all are related to the constraints of time.

 

Ironically, I recently saw a YouTube video announcing an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, represented in the department of preserving and restoring old costumes in the museum. The general theme for this month's charity event is "The Garden of Time"... a story about a garden with flowers that resist the passage of time. You be the judge of all this.


 



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