Time

I was talking to a girlfriend about my recent significant birthday. She's a couple of years older than me so feels she can now comment with authority on what the 4th decade is really like.

We're both very different in terms of our interests, but not in terms of our personalities. We both agreed that in terms of physique, ageing, that kind of thing, in as much as we can affect the outcome, it's up to us. You can only be good to yourself in terms of what you put in and the amount of exercise/care you take, the rest of it you just have to hope nature is kind to you.

We both agreed that time, time is the thing that we think about the most, the time that has passed and the time left ahead. Oh but for more time, both in the individual days and overall.

If you've travelled overseas for an extended period you may be able to relate to the feeling I'm describing. You know that sense of excitment, invinsibility, as if the world is there for you, waiting for you to just reach out and grab it? You know that feeling that when the travelling is over and it's time to head home, you so want to hold on to that feeling when you return in your every day life? That's how I feel when I think about the time passing, a sense of excitement, nervousness, anticipation.

There are so many things I'd love to do: Learn the guitar and the drums, act in an amateur theatre production, paint, write, learn to sew to a professional finish, more space to garden, press my own olives, make my own wine, write a play, learn to dance, run a marathon, learn to crochet, take a jewellery making course, open my own cafe, become a teacher of English as a foreign language, live overseas again, show the girls Europe, hike the Westcoat Trail, walk the Appalachian Mountain Track. So very many things.

I'd love to able to craft for hours on end, invent patterns, develop recipes, cook for others, entertain. If only there were enough time.

I figure that while I'm focussing on my biggest dream of raising an amazing family, until the balance of time tips on a daily basis a little more in my (aka mum's) favour, the excitement, the anticipation of all there is still to do, will carry me through.

flickr photo from Peter Kurdulija