Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Lag

I blame 'Daylight Savings Time 2007' for my lag. I realize the time lag was only one hour, one month earlier than usual, but it had a definite negative domino effect on me.

The Uniform Time Act of 1966 gave us certain dates where we could begin and end our daylight time.This act had daylight time begin on the last Sunday in April, and by then we were 'over' all of the "Spring Fever" behaviors. In 1986 they switched it from the last Sunday in April to the first Sunday, but it was 1986 so everyone was acting all crazy that year anyway, and didn't notice the loss of an hour of sleep, and the springing ahead.

In 2007, daylight time began on March 11.

On March 11, 2007 (Lag Day) I was posting about Jack Kerouac and reading some of his works. His birthday was March 12. I woke up on his birthday and I was ... Lagged! It only got worse, it was like living under water. But the upside to the weeks and weeks of lag, was the spiritual journey that came along with it. Thanks to all of the Kerouac, and related reading, I became a laggard surrounded by poetry, fresh flowers, and ideas. But all inspiration had to come from the outside. I was flattened and mostly spent my spare time just staring at things. A few weeks after the lag began I had to deal with the convergence of all these religious holidays and get-togethers. I wasn't ready, but had to join in and give the illusion that I was 'on board' and enthusiastic. The point is I wasn't ready or able, and so had to give up trying to fake it, and sat back as an observer. The more events I was forced to attend, the more I seemed to be observing these events in some sort of stupor-like state.

Pretending that everything is fine is a true waste of time and mind.

Being lost in reverie and contemplation turned out to be very productive in some areas. I wasn't brooding or sulking or grieving, (not that those moods cannot be very useful and lead us to profound insights.) I wasn't miserable, it was just that I was out of step and noticing more things in a different way, wondering is this or that significant? Then lapsing back into laggardness. It was a sweeping, sometimes exhaustive lag.



"Feel like a prisoner in a world of mystery
I wish someone would come
And push back the clock for me."
--Bob Dylan

"The best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time."
--Abraham Lincoln

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."
--Einstein

Les maladies que l'on cache sont les plus difficiles à soigner.
The illnesses that we hide are the most difficult to treat.
--Chinese proverb