Taking Time In

Ancient water clock, Beijing’s Ming Dynasty Observatory,                    Ed Hedemann

Slow down, breathe, do something you love, take time in.  I am eternally in pursuit of time—ever more elusive—to be still, to be myself, to feel calm and centered.

I did finally find the copy of The Deep River Realm I'd lost somewhere among my time-stealing piles of this and that, and now must try to find time to read it!  It's Abby Seixas, the author, who talks about taking time in.

On the same subject, I've found this quiet little poem by Billy Collins—

Liu Yung

This poet of the Sung dynasty is so miserable.
The wind sighs around the trees,
a single swan passes overhead,
and he is alone on the water in his skiff.

If only he appreciated life
in eleventh-century China as much as I do—
no loud cartoons on television,
no music from the ice cream truck,

just the calls of elated birds
and the steady flow of the water clock.

Billy Collins

Water clock in ancient agora of Athens.  (The water clock kept time for speeches, with water emptying at a controlled speed from one bowl into another.  Senate speeches were six minutes and it became an art form to deliver an effective message in that time period.)

image:   Sharon Mollerus

Greek Water Clock: Reconstruction of a clay original of the late 5th century B.C., Dorieo