April 23, 2023

One idea to keep it slow and simple… Unfreeze something in time

In her new book, Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock, Jenny Odell suggests this unique exercise:

“Just pick a point in space—a branch, a yard, a sidewalk square, a webcam—and simply keep watch. A story is being written there.”

She calls this “unfreezing in time” because the exercise helps retrain our minds to a different kind of time—time told by nature. When we intentionally watch time, as told by a sidewalk square, then we stop seeing a static, unchanging place incidental to our daily walk. The space comes alive in its own right, inhabited by a shifting array of flora, fauna, light, and color. All changing in their own time and through their own logic.

What can you unfreeze in time? What spaces around you live by a different sense of time than clock time?

Observe the space outside your kitchen window. Or note the shifting patterns of light through your front door. Observe a single patch of grass right to the left of your office building entrance. One day a bee will appear. The next comes a dandelion. Eventually, a brown leaf cascades to rest there. None of them will wear a watch.

And some clickable fun

We love to discover and share, so we’ve added three cool clickables. And just so you know, when we list products, it’s just because we like them. We’re not sponsored by anything but our dreams and imaginations.

• Did you know Earth Day has its own official website? Find projects covering regenerative farming, the fashion industry, plastic waste, and more! Get involved over at EARTHDAY.ORG

• NPR’s LifeKit is true to its name. We have definitely upgraded our lives with their articles and videos. Like this one! A helpful video explainer with 6 tips to raise healthy houseplants.

• Leave it to Rebecca Solnit to remind us that the changes required to address climate change could make our lives better right now. Read her latest in The Washington Post: “What if climate change meant not doom — but abundance?”