28 Comments

This was great. I have never heard of Momo, but it sounds like a book I should be getting and reading with my seven year old. The second quote in particular was fantastic. Could have been the central quote for one of my essays on the formalisation of children's sports.

As someone who works part time, only three days a week, I also have found a shifting in the seasonality of our lives, be that sleep patterns or energy levels. And Friday, our first day of the weekend, is a glorious rejection of clock time as we allow ourselves the freedom to decide slowly, always slowly, how we want to play that day.

I think, similarly, one of the things that I enjoyed about pub shift work earlier in life is, though you are bound to the clock in the sense of turning up for your shift on time, due to each shift starting at different parts of the day you never feel tuned into the adult work week in the same way. Each day offers you a different part of it to be free from the constraints of work. The monotony of the 9-5 is broken up by having a couple of mornings that you can do with what you want and a few evenings to socialise.

Expand full comment
Nov 2, 2022Liked by Thomas J Bevan

Thanks for this, Tom. I am not familiar with “Momo” somehow; it sounds intriguing.

I often dream about what it would have been like for people to play, tell stories, make crafts, etc. in such different conditions in the past.

Expand full comment

I’m no judge of your body of work, but this was probably the essay that had the most profound instant effect on me, personally. Thank you, Thomas.

Expand full comment

Tom, It wasn't until love brought me into living the meaning of the apropos Wordsworth's quote. I intently looked into my daughter's eyes, they were literally wide with wonder (a funky image just popped into my mind... I didn't simply sit and star at her, hey, hey). Trying to see life & experience life as she did - discovering it, living it - was liberating to me. It did take great effort to peal layers off where my mind was blocked (still doing it). The reward far outshined the effort. She didn't have blinders on, or years of implanted paradigms through which to live. Life was brand new. A physical parallel are cataracts on eyes. Once they begin, they thicken over time. If left alone and not taken off, they get so thick blindness results. Blindly, I had become quite blind. If something, or someone, doesn't jar us out of that state, the result can be so deadly, can cause such emptiness - reflecting again on momo. Lynn

Expand full comment

Nice post. I don't feel good saying this that I am also in some ways in the clutches of men in grey. I used to enjoy my time and made enough time for fun and leisure a year ago. But now it's all gone. I am moving towards that productive self which gets the job done but is rarely happy.

Your post is a kind reminder for me to fight this and control my own time. Thanks a lot and best wishes. 👏🏽

Expand full comment
founding

I heard my calendar weeping when I was reading this.

I remember almost time-free childhood when apart from school there was nothing scheduled . Then we learned that “time” skill as with every year life was becoming more time constrained, sadly. Now “Mastering time” / “time management” seem quite ironic activities. Should it be “mastered by time” / “managed by time” instead? I wonder

(Great stuff as always sir, the thoughts have been successfully provoked)

Expand full comment

This was wonderful, as usual. I have to read Momo to break down my Fomo. Is it any wonder that our sleep and attention spans have been degraded, which may have begun the moment rail-time derailed natural rhythms of sleep (such as waking up in the middle of the night to before going back to still restful sleep), while our minds are packed into puppy mills for grinding for some hustle, for "moar"?

Expand full comment

Love this piece. I avoid wearing a watch because I checked it obsessively. Our modern way of life is crazy in lots of ways. It's a dance between time and the resources to enjoy that time.

Expand full comment

Gosh, you keep bringing up things that resonate. Haven't thought of 'Momo' in probably 25 years. I remember attempting to read it, and so desperately wanting to grasp what was going on, and I couldn't. Same with 'Sophie's World,' which I as a teenager sensed was "profound." I'm going to add 'Momo' to my reading list for this winter. In fact, I just walked by our bookshelf and saw 'Grimm's Fairy Tales' and wondered to myself why I haven't read any in years. Do any of you in here read fairy tales now and then?

Expand full comment

Wonderful!!! Your story reminds me of a "time" when my 3 year old daughter was wanting to simply play with me. She didn't NEED anything, just play. I was almost totally consumed with my work responsibilities, 24/7. Yet, I adored her & endearingly loved her. Being 41, work had been my paramount focus. Here's the "Catch 22" - spending time (ahem) with her on her terms was something she had to teach me. She taught me how to play, simply play, like in Momo. Thank you, I love reading your words of life! Lynn

Expand full comment

Well said! I stopped wearing a watch over 20 years ago when my father died and as I've grown older, I've also grown nearly completely resistant to other people's ideas of how to fill my time. My days are my own, though it does require a degree of will, awareness and self-assurance to continually resist.

Expand full comment
RemovedOct 29, 2022Liked by Thomas J Bevan
Comment removed
Expand full comment