11: Human Conditions - Time
A moment spent in meditative contemplation can be a mystical glimpse into a unified eternity.
The narrow Western notion of linear time has caused severe damage to the foundations of the way contemporary societies are structured. As such, learning from the past and present to shape the future should not unduly limit the way in which we understand the concept of time. The continual compression and apparent acceleration of time due to technology, as it manifests in particular in post-modern global, digital capitalism, brings with it stress, sickness, self-harm and blight on a scale never before seen. The result is that we may find ourselves wishing our days away, or distracting ourselves from time’s passage with destructive addictions or mindless activity that serves no restful, healing, generative, connection-building or creative purpose.
The marketisation of human labour, and the way in which human choice has for centuries been constrained by capitalist rather than community objectives, continues to be a violation of epic proportions. In this paradigm, time is characterised from a perspective of scarcity; we are made to feel ‘time-poor’ as if there is not enough time for us to accomplish our work, play, and rest. Indeed, for those in economically vulnerable and precarious positions, time is particularly dear and its sale is often either negotiated within relationships of exploitation or, at the very least, inadequate compensation. The re-emergence of labour movements in the West provides some inspiration that we may be able to work collectively to ensure the value of our time is recognised by the owners of the means of production.
The capitalist construction of time as a resource equatable with money is far from the only valid conceptualisation of this fundamental human condition. Intersectional feminist and abolitionist thinkers are actively questioning and orienting away from this ideology. For example, in speaking of her experience as a movement facilitator, abolitionist adrienne maree brown (2017) presents an alternative perspective on time. Rather than time-poverty, which can leave facilitators and activists feeling rushed, she suggests adopting a view of ‘time-enough’, wherein there is always enough time for the work that must be done. This is a more expansive mindset that allows for clarity and focus, but may require taking a close look and re-evaluating the tasks we have assigned ourselves in a particular time window, and coming to terms with what is actually possible in the time we have.
To achieve this shift in perspective, we can begin by getting clear on important questions, such as: how much time is available, and what exactly is the work that must be done? What aspects of this can practically be done in this moment, and what can be slotted into the next hour, day, week, month, year? What would a longer-term strategy look like, and how far ahead can we practically plan? How can we use time better (which does not necessarily mean more efficiently) to accomplish (not necessarily produce) more resistance to oppression, more goodness, healing, and liberation?
Finally, learning from decolonial thinkers and traditions, we can ask also in what ways colonized perceptions of time, with its focus on linearity, optimisation, and work-related efficiencies, have narrowed our view. What aspects of reality - such as the mysteries of deep creativity - may be outside the realm of time as we understand it? The work of poet and queer Black troublemaker Alexis Pauline Gumbs, and spiritual teacher Martín Prechtel, push us to explore: in what ways do our ancestors and our descendants exist with us in the present? How might we engage with the world as the embodiment of many previous generations? What does it mean to understand time as without beginning nor end? And in what ways can this deeper awareness of eternity inform our Earth-and-time-bound practices?
To accomplish certain practical outcomes in the social world, it is essential to attend to time in a structured, linear way. However, it is equally important to introduce alongside this a more mystical and cyclical take on the nature of time. In this mindset, we do not conceive of time as a direct pathway from A to B wherein certain developmental stages are ticked off along the way. Instead, a moment spent in meditative contemplation can be a mystical glimpse into a unified eternity.
Natural, ever-present cycles like day-night, or the moon cycle, might be seen as a chance to revisit and nurture our daily practices of breathing, movement, nourishment, rest, pleasure and pain; checking in with ourselves at the turn of months and years gives us built in reasons to continually count our blessings and be intentional about our choices. Because cycles show patterns, they offer us the chance to see ourselves more clearly, and develop new ways of working and modes of operation. Furthermore, concentrating on the big picture – an eternal Earthly reality outside of or beyond the realm of time, in which human history is seen as temporary, cyclical and iterative – allows deeper reflection, healing and learning. Our ultimate goal in terms of time is not to maximise control, efficiency or production, but rather to maximise humility, perspective and vision, and thus develop a wiser approach to our encounters with each other and the world.
Our notion of time is inherently Earth-centred; however, Earth is but one point in an ever-expanding universe. Thus, some context to our notions of time might assist us in our enquiries: we are miniscule oxygen-breathing social beings on a small water-covered internally combusting rock floating in space, rotating on an axis once a day and spinning around a supercharged star once a year. While this has been happening for billions of years, the natural lifespan of our species, which is itself only a few hundred thousand years old, is somewhere between five and ten decades, of which approximately one third is spent asleep. With this in mind, let us begin with humility regarding our very modest and impossibly human notions of time. We can then acknowledge and account for the possibilities for stopping, slowing down, taking in our surroundings, practicing patience, and working to our human-sized priorities at a sustainable pace, instead of the inhuman demands placed upon us by ourselves and others. Such expansive awareness is not an escape from earthly responsibility, but can offer a foundation for more grounded, sustainable engagement with our work in the world, one task and one day at a time.
References
brown, a.m. (2017) Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds. Chico: AK Press.
Further Reading
brown, a.m. (2022) Murmurations: Realizing Our Abolitionist Dreams. Available at: https://www.yesmagazine.org/opinion/2022/03/29/accountability-abolition-adrienne-maree-brown
Gumbs, A.P. (2020) Dub: Finding Ceremony. Durham: Duke University Press.
Logan, J. (2022) Amazon, Starbucks and the sparking of a new American union movement. Available at: https://theconversation.com/amazon-starbucks-and-the-sparking-of-a-new-american-union-movement-180293
Prechtel, M. (2015) The Smell of Rain on Dust. North Atlantic Books.
Veaux, A.D., Gumbs, A.P., & Imarisha, W.I. (2021). "Writing New Worlds," Allied Media Conference 2020 Plenary. American Studies 60(3), 83-94. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/ams.2021.0029.
Wajcman, J. (2015) Pressed for Time: The Acceleration of Life in Digital Capitalism. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.