I feel like I’ve been writing a lot about time this year. While that is not quite true, I have mentioned “time” in 419 posts on the blog so far.

Time is so interesting! I am often asked how much I fit into one day. And then I think about Oprah and how much she can fit into her day. The more I explore the concept of time, the more it fascinates me.

Time is a human-made up construct and we all follow it. What would happen if the concept of time ceased to exist? Would we finally listen to our bodies and nature instead looking at our phones or TVs for the time to help us decide whether we should go to bed or eat? Was the concept of time one of the biggest drivers to separate us from our own biology and Mother Earth?

Time flies for certain activities and drags on for others. How did people measure time before? Was it in line with the sunrise and sunset or was it based on how long it took to wash laundry vs. feed the chickens?

If certain activities take “longer” than others to do, can we play with this concept and collapse or expand time?

Can something as fundamental as time be reimagined?

An ability we all need to grow is asking ourselves hard questions. And if we can’t ask them of ourselves, then we’ve got to find people who we trust to ask us and to hold the space and accountability for us to truthfully answer those questions.

Breaking through barriers means we are doing things we have never done before, and those things have been surrounded by walls that said we shall not pass. And frankly, we will not pass through those walls by thinking, saying and doing the same things we have always done.

The discomfort of the hard questions is part of the price we pay to get to the other side.

This is something I have enjoyed doing as it has gotten me through many walls and will help me to break down more. I don’t think discomfort is a bad thing. We’ve got to get at least a little uncomfortable to become the next version of ourselves. I mean, a caterpillar completely dissolves into some sort of goo before reassembling into a butterfly.

Ask yourself the hard questions (or have me do it) and become that butterfly.

As we are on the tail end of another school year, I am once again astounded at how time passes so seemingly quickly.

There is nothing more sure than the seconds rolling by, and because it is a constant, the passing of time gets pushed into the background, out of our peripheral awareness.

We think – time is not something we can control nor change so why pay any attention?

Paying attention to each second gone would mean that we would have to recognize our mortality, that we would have to recognize we are on a deadline (i.e., our last day) and that we should get moving because we cannot pull back those seconds as the sand falls to the bottom of the hourglass.

In this recognition, we can either become overwhelmed and disempowered or motivated and completely empowered.

We are conditioned to put our head into the sand when we get overwhelmed and just to keep moving through the motions of each day and in this case, further allowing time to pass without recognition or awareness.

It is really only in pulling our heads out, recognizing it, that we can start to finally live in alignment.

However, recognition is a balancing act. While we cannot live in a place of ignoring time, we also cannot dwell on the loss of time because that takes us into a mindset of fear, regret and scarcity.

What does that mean then?

That means we have to live in the present.

It is funny when the liminal space is actually right now. We are always in a state of transition. Perhaps that is why balancing ourselves in this space is one of life’s greatest challenges.

Maybe who we are never changes.

Maybe it is the environment that allows or does not allow for us to comfortably and wholly express our true selves. Our environment is what we are immersed in all around us – our home and families, our workplace, our community, our friends, our city or town, our country, etc.

And if that environment was not allowing from the very start, we may find ourselves for the first time much later in our lives.

I have listened to the full soundtrack to The Greatest Showman 3-4 times today (#slightlyobsessed). In fact, I’m listening to it as I type.

While singing and dancing in my seat all day, I realized what I really want right now is to gather with some friends and belt out a few musical soundtracks. There doesn’t even have to be much talking, just using our voices and bodies to bring this music to life.

One of my most memorable evenings spent with a couple of my cousins was when we got together and imperfectly harmonized some songs from Rent.

It feels somewhat impossible to bring my idea to life and find time and space to gather and sing. At least that is what part of my brain is telling me. But really, it can be as simple as sending a text, opening up my basement to a few people and just sing.

When did creating art together become so infrequent, so optional? When in fact, art is not an option to our souls. It is what our souls yearn for. It is essential to our thriving.

What does your soul really want right now?

My pledge is to figure out how to make this musical night happen some time over the next few weeks. I’ll report back.