Underwear and the Passage of Time

“Green Tree Autoscape” from the Shades of Time Photography Collection. 

The passage of time is different as a full-time artist.

There’s no more Monday to Friday 9 to 5  to mark the weeks.

There are no more bi-weekly paychecks either.

And without kids around, the years all meld together.

I’ve moved around the world a lot, so I wasn’t there to see my nieces and nephew grow up. It’s hard to believe one of them has children!

Sure, there are still the monthly bills.

But my biggest time marker is my underwear.  Every time!

I’m always surprised when my pile runs low. And counting them as I hang them up to dry feels like a total reality check. Didn’t I just do the laundry 2 days ago?

What is this fascination with the passage of time? I have no conclusions – just musings.

If you’re in the here and now, does measuring it against the past or future matter?

I do love birthdays, but haven’t paid attention to the number in decades. I turn “the big 5-0” next November, but that means nothing more to me than when I turned 49, or 30.

I truly get more shocked to find 10 pair of underwear in my wash than about the changing of seasons or decades.

Is that a good or bad thing? Who am I to judge? It just is.

Take last week for example. I spent a very intensive week in the flow working on an energy painting commission. I’m glad my calendar was almost completely clear, so I could get lost in time. I just followed the flow.

As a budding entrepreneur, I still have to pay attention to my calendar – meetings, training, outings, commitments. But I’ve worked hard to simplify my life and my schedule. It feels good.

Maybe one day – when someone does my laundry for me – I’ll live even more in the here and now, without anything to mark the passage of time.

Will that be a good or bad thing? I don’t know.

What do you think?  Would you like to exist in the timelessness?