We have some friends in Seattle with whom we seem to always have epic cab rides. On New Year's Eve, our cabbie was a vampire-TV-show-obsessed wannabe rock star who gave us each a copy of his band's CD after playing their big hit, "Coup de Squab" on the way to our destination. Is the song about pigeons planning to overtake their government? I'm not sure. And I've listened to it twice.
Last night our cabbie was a chatty Somalian who talked to us at length about the most common mode of transportation in Somalia, which is, as he said, "using our feet." Jogging, to be precise. He says that the trouble with Americans is that we don't use our feet to get from one place to another. He performed a pretend telephone conversation in which one person wants to go see a friend who lives approximately 50 miles away.
It ended like this:
"Yeah, we should hang out. I'll be there soon. Just give me ten hours."
Setting aside the fact that he is talking about jogging for 50 miles (which, by Eric's calculations, means an average of 12-minute miles--not a particularly impressive speed if you were running one mile, but we're talking about 50 of them), this has given me food for thought. I've been thinking about his philosophies a lot since last night, not just the using our feet part, but the time part. The part about taking the time to do something. I mean, when's the last time you spent ten hours going from one place to another? Just to visit a friend for a night or two? Who could possibly have time for that?
As I spend my summer frittering away time, doing menial tasks like laundry and cleaning the fishbowl, it has come to my attention that I am avoiding my list of summer projects. They are just all so time-consuming; things like "paint the kitchen" and "re-finish the dresser." Is it because I don't want to spend the time, or because I am afraid of the threat of incompletion if the task proves to be too lengthy or too expensive or too boring? Is it possible that I am just plain lazy? Regardless, I think it's time, as our cabbie said, to throw my shoes over my shoulder and start running.
Just give me ten hours.
Just give me 20 seconds... I relate to this in a weird but different way. As you know I tend to always be on the go, to never get enough sleep and to be scheduled to the ends of the earth, but as I get older and realize those things that make me fulfilled are changing I have tried to slow down and make sure my energy is focused on the right things. When I need to center myself and make sure I am focused on Kevin and I, I just simply ask "Can I have 20 seconds?" and with that we wrap our arms around each other, I put my head on his chest and we just breath (for some reason this always seems to happen in the middle of the kitchen). These 20 seconds have meant so much to both of us and our relationship that when Kevin proposed to me he made sure that the line "Here is 20 seconds, you know you don't have to ask" was included in the song he had written for me. It may be a lot different than 10 hours to go see someone - but I feel that on a different scale spending 20 seconds can be quite fulfilling. Luv A
ReplyDeleteAnna, I love your story about 20 seconds--so sweet! And so true that often that's all it takes to make a difference. You and Kevin are a perfect match.
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