Motivation logo

The Heartbeats of Time

Stop and listen to the world. It’s trying to fix us . . .

By Mark Zanzibar BoydePublished 4 years ago 3 min read
Like
Embrace the World

Today I leave America. I am sad to go, more than I thought I would be, for it has been a joyful experience, and one far beyond my expectation. I shared my time here with people I love, which made it even more special.

While it is easy to criticise this country of contradictions, I have simply wondered at its vast natural beauty—from the barren Texas deserts and the deep-gouged canyons of Arizona, to the serrated peaks and savage grandeur of the snow dusted Rocky Mountains. The indelible memory I am left with is the incredible beauty created by the passing of and the mark of time.

Time—we measure our lives by it, minute to minute, day after day, stretching back far behind us and out beyond us into a future we cannot hope to know or live or control, conscious of its unerring ability to forever elude us.

We give names to these vast expanses of time—past, present and future—yet fail to capture its true essence—it is like trying to grab water in our hands. We cannot see it, we cannot hold it, we cannot touch it, and we fail to hear it call to us—despite that it does in so many different ways, for it exists beyond our senses. Or so we might believe!

And yet we are so utterly and subtly attuned to it, as we have ever been throughout the veritable heartbeat that we have lived upon this planet—our Earth, our beautiful blue home.

The seasons change as the earth spins and shifts and tilts upon an invisible axis, a universal spear on which we are forever impaled. The native Americans knew this to be so. They had no need for sun-dials or watches, for they lived their lives by nature’s clock of colour—seeing the seasons change from white to green to golden yellow and then fall again to red. They lived their lives accordingly, in step with time, seeking not to control it, or to know it beyond what it allowed them to understand of its nature or need of them.

We should then, each of us, stop . . . just for a moment, each and every day of our lives, and look at nature's clock—you will find it if you try, for it will likely be looking back at you, still and silent, waiting for you to see it.

It may be a tree in a park in a sprawling city of grey and stark neon, it may be a rolling ocean wave crashing upon a deserted sandy beach, it may be a mountain or a desert or a forest, even a star that shines down from the heavens above—but, whatever it might be, whatever you choose to set your gaze upon, it will ask you for nothing—other than to see it to wonder at it, to marvel at it and to consider how long it has taken to simply “be”—its life is measured in much longer heartbeats that yours. But its heart does beat.

Whatever it is you connect with won’t tell you anything of its life, of its struggle or its hardships, of its journey to the here and now, or of the wonderful things it may have seen or heard or witnessed, or of the many lives and lifetimes played out in front of it. But, it will show you how truly beautiful this world of ours can be. It has taken millennia to create. Open your arms and your heart to it. Embrace it.

And if you take a breath and listen very closely, silently, matching its stillness and grace, you will hear its heart beating alongside yours—for your souls are one.

Then, perhaps, you will hear its voice, you will find that it is speaking to you, telling you something that you already know. Something you have always known.

Time is a gift. Don’t waste it.

happiness
Like

About the Creator

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.