Time

"Ticking away, the moments that make up a dull day.

You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way."

Image: Francesco Marino / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I bought the album when I was 16. And I've since purchased it as each new format has become available - I've made my contribution to Nick Mason's Ferraris.

I played it, for the first time in ages, while I was painting a room yesterday.

And listening to "Time," I reflected how fast life is passing by, and how I can't remember the last time I frittered or wasted hours, or even the last dull day I experienced.

My Seminal Summer

It was all so different in 1977. It was my seminal summer. The one where every day dawned bright and sunny, and seemed to stretch into an infinity of choices. The one where I met Heather from California in, of all places, The Isle of Wight, and she showed me how to do "that thing".

Heather, you cannot know how much I remain in your debt.

It was a summer with all the time in the world. I had time to listen to music, and I mean listen. I'd sit down and play an album and do nothing else but enjoy the music. I could do that for two hours and still have a full day of plenty of other great stuff to do.

It was a summer that lasted for five years.

Then life lit it's afterburners.

And since then, each week, month and year has seemingly blended into a constant flow of meetings, socialising, working and doing. The pressure to achieve, to cram more life into my life.

So yesterday I stopped painting, sat down and closed my eyes. And I played The Dark Side of the Moon from the heartbeat at the start to the heartbeat at the end.

It felt good to give myself some time.

You should try it.

Some other stuff you might enjoy:

1/ Lanzarote Ironman - a personal perspective

2/ Even after 14 years, I can't read this without crying. Can you?

3/ Glossary of blogging terms