For the first time I have experienced travel sickness, the plan for today was a trip to Durness’ Smoo Cave however a short leg of the journey had me unsure.  Seems the roads are more twisty than I was prepared for. Adjusted the itinary and have settled for a day of down time in Ullapool, Durness another day.  Currently sitting in a cafe with the sun on my back as I journal.

The day’s conversations have been about time,  getting up at the right time, what time the bus will arrive, how long does the journey take, what happened earlier and what is happening later. Either too much or not enough, no-one seems to be in this very moment, a lot can happen in a moment and each one is different.  In the west we always need more time, have a sense that there just isn’t enough time in which to fit everything in, whereas in the south & north there is plenty of time it’ll happen as its intended without rushing.  In the east (the less westernised east) time is now, choices happen now because the future will happen regardless.  If something is missed…it is missed now and can be remedied in the new moment of now.

To say time is a human concept I believe would be a mistake, I witness a sense of time, albeit on a more vague scale, in animals.  For them changing scent and light indicate time passing, learning when food is likely available, when to rest etc a mixture of habit and survival instincts.  For us though (I can only speak as a westerner) it appears, from ongoing conversations, to involve a clinging to what has passed or a desperateness to know or already be in our future so that we can avoid fear of the unknown.  Somehow there is a desire to jump past the uncomfortableness of our feeling in the here & now.

So as I look in this moment I am feeling too hot, tired, some emotional stress and grief.  Already I’m thinking about getting settled in my accommodation later, I feel a hint of hunger, a sense of ‘I can’, strong pulse, my abdomen rising & falling, thinking, thinking, thinking.  It is the thinking that’s inviting emotion, if I calm the thoughts I feel calm and still, safe, grateful, fortunate m, surrounded by nurturing light and I’m feeling relaxed.

I look at the wall of clocks and wonder what each human is doing in this moment (regardless the ‘time’) what stories people have to tell from their day.

Question for today

I wonder since the movement of time, or energetic movement in space, exists….does it matter? and if so why?  What purpose does moving from one moment to another serve?