When Time Stopped
I’d seen them in the boarding area: two teenage Dutch girls, each carrying souvenir American flags, chatting excitedly as they prepared to return home to the Netherlands.
Then we boarded, then we were in the air, and I watched as two rows in front of me one of the young girls started braiding her long, flaxen hair.
Somehow the expert weaving mesmerized me, and suddenly time stopped. There was a pleasant buzzing drone, and I felt like animals must feel, just sensing, no thinking, no disembodied “mind” driving the body like a car. Everything seemed one.
I was in the moment, and didn’t have to read, or write, or watch a movie, or do something or be productive or think about tasks ahead or past behind. I was content to watch the girl’s fingers braiding and not anticipate the next moment, which never comes anyway, because this is the moment: Now, the Now that is, the Now that will be, the Now that was. It’s all one Now, and always was, and I knew this again entirely, as I hadn’t for some very long time.
Then the braiding of the flaxen hair was finished, and I started to think about the extraordinary experience of time stopping and scrambled to write this down. But thinking was my mistake; it made the moment disappear. I scribbled down some of the words you see here, then looked back at the braided hair, and tried to recover the feeling, but it was gone, and wouldn’t be willed back.
So I finished the eight-hour flight, with some movies and some reading and some sleeping, but without another Now moment.
And today, some months later, I fondly remember that Now, and how now cannot be willed into Now.
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8 Comments to When Time Stopped
Tim, I liked your blog today. I agree that those moments make up some of the best life has to offer!
Tim, you’re describing what the ancient Greeks called Kairos (vs. Chronos). It still gets used in theological discourse. Here’s the wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kairos. Special moments. Few and far between.
Thanks, Greg I didn’t know these terms. From reading the Wikipedia article it seems that kairos refers more to seizing opportunity/grabbing an opportune moment. My experience was hardly grand in that sense; there was no opportunity-seizing going on. Rather, it was an experience of oneness, maybe something that Zen masters feel?
In any case I will further ponder chronos and kairos – thanks!
Impressive and useful story. It reminds me of how many times I’ve spent futilely trying to will now into Now. I agree with Teryl, Now does make up some of the best moments life has to offer. If only we could recognize and enjoy them more fully …
Yes, or make them happen on command — or rather, live that way without “trying” to make them “happen” …
I am with you Tim. The Now that you are talking about is what they call the “aha” moment. It just happens. The moment has you – you seem to flow with it. It could not be described but it’s beautiful. It is one of life’s greatest privileges.
I completely know what you are saying here Tim. I’ve recently been pondering the fact that I can be in one of two modes: Observing/Analyzing or Being. The two modes are mutually exclusive: Analyzing puts the brakes on Being. I know because I have an Analyzing engine that’s always on, so I often miss the important things that are right in front of me. Last Monday I was mesmerized by a Sunrise which pulled me back into Being, if only for 10 minutes. Time to re-read Ram Das’s Be Here Now, a book I haven’t touched for 25 years…
@Nezel: You are right, it’s indescribable. But it was fun trying to describe it
@Hank: Ten minutes! Geez, I’m lucky to get ten seconds. Good for you.
Like you, I read Be Here Now many years ago, and as you can tell from the post above, still remember some of the language. Time for me to revisit, too.