Damien Rice once wrote a lyric which has stuck with me for nearly a decade (granted it is DAMIEN RICE so many of his lyrics tend to stick with you). I first heard the song when I was sixteen. It was late, I was sitting on a train going from Chicago to Indiana with my family. We had been traveling for over 48 hours at this point and I was exhausted. I don't know if it was the delirium or simply my naïvety, but when the slow lines flowed from my headphones I found myself giggling to myself.
"Older chests reveal themselves, like a crack in the wall. Starting small but grow in time."
I couldn't understand the weight of that statement at 16. The ignorance of youth is a beautiful blanket, swaddling us, protecting us from the outside world.
The imagery of that line slays me. It isn't, as I thought when I was young, about the cleavage of, say, Betty White, it is about growing older and seeing the things we once thought to be so small grow into distinct markers in our lives.
The dreams unrealized. The longings and desires we set on a shelf, saving them for 'later'.
Do you know the chorus to this song?
"Time, there's always time. It's on my mind. So pass me by, I'll be fine. Just give me time."
It is so beautiful it hurts.
Time is the one constant in our lives. It is always happening, always moving, always a part of our existence.
A friend recently told me that the one 'life luxury' she can't live without is TIME. How crazy is that?! Time is a LUXURY.
This struck me. Pierced me to the core and made me question what it is I am doing with my time. After all it is a luxury I can't afford to loose.
Time is of the essence. Time is sacred. Time is beautiful. Time is more delicious than anything you have ever tasted- savor it.
xx
