Do you ever wish you could just slow things down a little bit? Or maybe sometimes you’d be happy if the clock ticked just a wee bit faster?

Time is a constant, but your perception of it is variable. What can you do to create a bit more agency over your experience?

Think about the situations where you might want time to move a little faster. Chances are it’s a situation you’d like to get out of.

You’re late for an appointment, but the line at the bank is out the door. You’ve got a headache, but the aspirin is taking forever to kick in. You’re stuck in a meeting, stuck on the question of when to have the next meeting.

The flipside is when you are enjoying life. You’ve dropped in deep to your dance. You’re playing music and hitting every note. You’re witnessing a stellar performance.

What brought this to mind for me was the experience of enjoying an epic meal. French folks are famous for dining in a leisurely fashion, and my sweethearts parents are no exception. A Sunday afternoon lunch in the garden can easily stretch three hours from the opening aperitif to the last morsel of dessert.

In other words, there’s no hurry. One has ample time to appreciate and savor each course in turn. The American in me tends to gobble things right up, so I find myself saying lentement to my self, (slowly…slowly!)

So I found myself experimenting with ways to make the moments linger, and discovered a tasty little trick.

But first, to illustrate, let me describe a seemingly simple yet surprisingly complex snack that the French are fond of. In the springtime, bunches of finger-long red and white radishes are everywhere.

You start by nibbling a little bit off the end. This creates a rough spot that is just the right size to spread a little sliver of butter. The buerre on the radi is ready for a few crystals of sel de Guérande, and voilà, impeccable!

When you crunch down on this little assemblage, it’s as if fireworks are going off in your mouth. The sharp and bright explosion of the raw radish is anchored by the creamy richness of the butter. The hearty crystals of sea salt somehow tie it all together.

While pondering the epicurean delights of the day, I played a quiet little game with myself to stretch out the time. With the first taste of every dish or item on the table, I would linger for the cycle of one whole deep breath as my teeth closed down on it before chewing as usual.

It was is if I was inviting my palate to pause quietly and really listen to the flavors as they met my mouth. I found myself noticing complexities and standout elements that might have gone unnoticed had I been chomping away mindlessly from the start.

I suppose the moral of the story is that presence is key to the perception of time. When you’re making the most of a moment, there’s nothing better than your breath to set the pace and help you treasure the experience.

When you’d like the clock to tick faster, breath is there for you too. The difference lies in where you choose to put your attention.

Instead of dwelling with impatience over what you’re enduring, you may do better by focusing on something entirely removed from the situation.

Take a deep breath and put your attention on a current creative project. See if there’s a sensation in your body you can expand into, or an appreciation that you notice. You may be gnashing your teeth watching the clock, but you can probably pause for a moment of gratitude for something or someone somewhere in your life

May your experience of time be much to your liking as you navigate the coming week. Much love till next Monday!

Merci et à bientôt!

M+

PS: Our newsletter service had an outage yesterday, that’s why it’s Tuesday Love today. 

ML #625

Mark Metz
Monday Love
Music & Movement Calendar