I blinked, and it was Saturday 😂

Saturday at the end of October 2020! Phew…

I can see myself blinking again and writing to you a Merry Christmas email. Haha

This reminds me of the time when my son, Evan, was 12 and sitting in my lap. I said to him, “It seems like I blinked and you grew from a tiny little baby into a beautiful big boy.” He looked at me, smiled, and said smartly, “Don’t blink, Mama.”

I got curious. I wondered if scientists have come up with any new explanations about time-bending (we experience time as both dragging and flying).

When I Googled it, I found several scientific articles that suggest that when our brain is engaged in the activity, time contracts…and in boredom, it expands. Brain and body functions affect our perception of the duration of certain events and activities.

In plain words, time flies when you are having fun 😉

I also read about how memories play a big part in the way we perceive time.

Memories are made when we experience something significant – and the more we are present in those moments, the more vividly we will remember them.

These memories “act like signposts, punctuating periods of time in our life and giving it a sense of duration.” (“Why does time fly … or not? It’s all in your mind” By Anna Salleh, posted on ABC Science)

When we have a lot of memories behind us, we have the sense of a long life behind us.

But also, I’m sure you can think of a time when you were talking to a friend, remembering fun times you had, and you ‘lost sense of time.’

Work, routines, stress and worry about the future can rob us of staying present and this can make time ‘disappear.’

The solution?

Mindfulness: Breaks during which we ‘check-in with ourselves’ and ‘slow down to smell the roses.’ (Our languages are full of phrases that remind us of living our time mindfully.)

I’ve been stuck in the time-sucking vortex of a creative process where everything else disappears and I don’t hear kids calling me, I miss my mother’s messages (and then she calls in a panic to check if all is well), and I only emerge when my back and my neck remind me I hadn’t stood up in several hours.

I’ve been studying my diaries and writing my memoir. I’m working with a great writing coach Tisha Morris and I’m LOVING it!!! It’s a LOT of work, but it’s very rewarding…

Tisha is also going to be my literary agent and we agreed I’d have the first draft done by November 9th. I still have 13 chapters – about the last fifteen years of my life – to write.

On that note, I’ll mindfully finish this email 🙂

Story

In our amazing book-study group, we discussed one of the stories in (un)Broken: about loneliness and giving our time to someone who is just too scared to be alone during their dark night.

One of the ladies in the group mentioned the poem by Gwendolyn Brooks “Aloneness”

Here is a part I want to offer you as a short reflection. You can read the full poem here.

“Sometimes I think it’s not possible to be alone.
You are with you.
And pulse and nature keep you company.
The little minutes are there,
Building into hours
The minutes that are bricks
Of days and years.”

Music

I love singing this Glen Campbell cover with David. It doesn’t have much to do with time or aloneness, but I think it’s a good reminder of what we can all do more of when times get tough (See? How can ‘time’ – which is a perceived concept, be ‘tough’ LOL)

We only did a part of the song here, but you can catch us perform live on our weekly show over on my YouTube channel: TajciTV.

Coaching

• How can you ‘slow down time’ this coming week? 
• If you are struggling with time dragging, what can you do to fill it with mindfully noticing nature or someone’s smile?
• What helps you be more present?

Tatiana “Tajci” Cameron is an award-winning music artist, published author, inspirational speaker, and certified transformational and spiritual life coach.

She has many passions and is dedicated to helping others while also creating an enriched life for herself and her three sons. 

When Tajci is not on the road performing gigs, she volunteers with local organizations dear to her heart, spends time with loved ones (often involving music!), and collaborates with other artists to bring creative projects to life.

Tajci’s most recent projects include a meditation CD, an annual retreat & sea cruise in Croatia (that she organizes and hosts), and a multimedia CD/book (Un)Broken: Songs My Father Taught Me.

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