Wonder is the heaviest element in the periodic table. Even a tiny speck of it stops time.*
Diane Ackerman

The whole point of finitude is that it gets easier to spend more of your time on worthwhile and life-enriching activities once you’re no longer trying to do all of them, or do them perfectly, or do them with the secret agenda of achieving a feeling of security or control.**
Oliver Burkeman

My father never owned a watch,
He immersed himself in work he loved, punctuated by mealtimes;
On the other hand, much of my working life has been
ruled by my watch.

We don’t have all the time in the world, but
doing something we love and that opens us to wonder –
Whether it be the natural world, things to discover, or people –
Has a strange affect on time –
To know ourselves and be ourselves is an important part of this.

In one sense, I don’t have a lot of time left,
And I’ve certainly wasted a lot of time, but,
Just like you,
I can affect time by developing my wonder,
Immersing myself in timelessness, which
at its best, will
always include others in some way,
And we have a whole new year to play with this.

I must change my life so that I can live it, not wait for it.^

*Jonah Paquette’s Awestruck;
**Oliver Burkeman’s Meditations for Mortals;
^Susan Sontag, from James Clear’s newsletter: 3-2-1: On the power of quiet moments, how to make good habits easy, and starting the year with enthusiasm.