Time Keeps on Slippin'

Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' 
Into the future 
Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' 
Into the future 

I want to fly like an eagle 
To the sea 
Fly like an eagle 
Let my spirit carry me 
I want to fly like an eagle 
Till I'm free 
Oh, Lord, through the revolution 

Feed the babies 
Who don't have enough to eat 
Shoe the children 
With no shoes on their feet 
House the people 
Livin' in the street 
Oh, oh, there's a solution ~ Steve Miller, "Fly Like an Eagle"

It all sounds so simple but then there's that time slippin' thing. I get out of bed by seven every morning. And before i know it, it's nine! Lucky for me, I usually don't have to be to work until ten. But whoa! Slow down there time! I need you to move slow with me. 

"Where you put your time, you put your life. Where you put your life, you put your love." ~ Clayton Barbeau, Family Therapist.

I watched a video series on parenting with Clayton as the speaker when I was in my late twenties. I was a  stay-at-home mom then with at least two, if not three of my four boys already in tow. I don't remember the rest of what he said but this one phrase has stuck with me for my whole life. It's caused me over the years to re-evaluate several times. Where am I putting my time?

Once, in my early thirties, I took a whole day to assess my television watching. Shortly after that I started changing my habits. It took a few years but I did eventually figure out how to let go of this time-sucking practice. My eventual solution came in an unexpected way. Our youngest son was a budding piano player. We had an old piano inherited from my parents in the living room. The TV was nearby in what had been the dining room before we added on. We thought this would be a great TV room. But it clashed with the piano and it was so easy to just walk in and sit down and start watching. Then one day as I drove down the street, a neighbor's couch with a "FREE" sign gave me a novel idea. So we picked up the old frumpy couch and put it in the corner of our frumpy, damp basement. We hauled the TV down there and told everyone that if they wanted to watch, that was where they could go. Upstairs, on the main floor, we moved the piano to where the TV room had been and made a music room. How we spent our time changed dramatically. My son played more and more. We watched TV less and less and eventually threw both the couch and the TV away. We don't miss it. 

Today, as time slips by, I am asking myself again, now in my fifties. Where do I put my time? Where am I putting my life? Where is my love directed? These aren't easy questions and I"m not sure I want to know all the answers but I feel drawn to ask. 

And then there's "feed the babies" and "shoe the children" and "house the people" and love the lonely and give voice to the silent and celebrate the joy! 

And I want to fly like an eagle!

~jules