3/6/11

Chronos & Kairos

Greenwich, standard, eastern, mountain, central & pacific!
It doesn't matter what kind of time it is.
All that matters is that we never seem to have enough of it!
clocks via Konfetti
Up until this time.
via east atlanta
Time and time again.
old time via flickr
Old faithful time.
The watch of Claude Simard
For the time being.
tumblr_lagz0x70fU1qc3htso1_500 via sadie olive
Since the dawn of time.
waterbury clock co. via flickr
Times up!
stopwatch via flickr
When I think about life, I try not to think about time. 
I like to think more in terms of seasons, you know, 
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven."  Ecclesiastes 3:1 
via aurum
Yes but not at the same time.
Have any of you tried to raise happy, emotionally well-adjusted children,
revel in a fabulous marriage, and work a sixty-hour week? 
Life Time
When we can't do it all at the same time, then we are meant to do only some of it.
  The trick is, finding out what the "some" is supposed to be!
antique-clocks via flickr
Since the dawn of time, we've tried to understand her nature.
But time is a mystery, an extravagant gift meant to be experienced, certainly not controlled.
Time's mystery is hard for most of us to appreciate because we have so little of it!
photo by philip newton
This might be the season for you to wipe a little runny nose. 
Doesn't necessarily mean that the season of running your own business won't ever come around. 
via everythingyoulovetohate
This might be the season of moving and living out of a suitcase. 
Doesn't mean that the season of restoring a beautiful old farmhouse will never occur. 
tumblr_lh68nrgveF1qei7a7o1_500 via awelltraveledwoman
Making deals over lunch doesn't mean you won't be making school lunches someday.
via Bekah Stewart
We must have patience.  Patience is the art of waiting.  Patience takes time to master!
There is an art to using time to your advantage, being at the right place at the right time, knowing when to pick your moments and when to bite your tongue!
tumblr_kt0t0uk5qK1qzkbrlo1_500 she will always be Rory Gilmore
Even though we've all been given 24 hours each day, it sure doesn't seem to go very far! 
Isn't it dreadful to run out of time!
via awelltraveledwoman
Patience is something I learned all about once I became a mom. 
I began to discover the patterns and cycles that cradle us all and ensure that if it has happened once, it will happen again! 
tumblr_lg8u12JcEl1qdlt8qo1_500 via dainty and dangerous
Having that kind of patience led to having perseverance.
Perseverance in life is being steadfast, keeping the ship on course.
via awelltraveledwoman
Persistence is another thing, it's grittier than perseverance.  Persistence is all-out sweat! 
Persistence is knocking loudly and so often on the door of your dreams that eventually you'll get what you want!
I've been told I have a lot of that.
tumblr_lh338mwL6q1qbowx7o1_500 via style and the city  In order to discover some serenity during the busiest days of our lives,
we need to also discover Time's twin nature which the ancient Greeks called
chronos and kairos.
via google images
Chronos is clocks, deadlines & agendas.  Chronos is time at her worst. 
tumblr_lh1wkdVidG1qb39djo1_500 via mad grace
Chronos keeps track.  Chronos is a delusion of grandeur.
Chronos is running a marathon in heels!
via google images
Kairos is transcendence, infinity & joy.
via awelltraveledwoman  Kairos is time at her best.  Kairos let's go!
Kairos is a Schubert waltz in nineteenth-century Vienna with your soul mate.
via google images
Most of us exist in chronos & long for kairos!
Chronos requires speed so it won't be wasted.
Jill by Jill Stuart Kairos requires space so that it can be savored.
tumblr_lgce8jjA1p1qzcd3bo1_500 via pedalfar
We do in chronos.
The New York Times
In kairos, we're allowed to be.
tumblr_lfrrl0PzG71qa8oz7o1_500 via marleyandmeWe think we've never known kairos, but we have.
When lost in music's rapture,
tumblr_lg6xlrM2NI1qamhazo1_500 via cabled     when working in the garden,
via google images itscomplicated
when exulting in a passion,
photo by Lisa Barber
or watching over a sleeping child.
photo by Pixdaus By going about whatever we are doing as if it were the only thing worth doing at the moment.
HA6EiTMtQosoo1hySIhk0amWo1_500 via life on sundays
By making time.  By taking time.
photo by Keiko Oikawa
It only takes a moment to cross over from chronos into kairos, but it does take a moment.
I like to think that if we are determined to gather life's honey, to stick our hand into the hive over and over again, to be stung so many times that it doesn't even hurt, to persevere and persist, till those who know and love us no longer call us normal, then we will be called authentic.  I like that!
Once upon a time.   tumblr_lgyfsqgQ2v1qdqctyo1_500 via thatgirlinpearls
All in good time.
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18 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, Lisa. You certainly do make us think about everything. You are on the money!
    I have always tried to think of something wonderful to get through stressful and not so nice times. I have never thought of a baby sleeping. Such a sweet, beautiful thought.
    Thank you for sharing your heart and thoughts.
    Teresa
    xoxo

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  2. Maybe Kairos will be my new mantra. Loved this. oxo

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  3. lisa

    your post and images is so so lovely.

    understood your message very well, as i often see myself in a maddening state of chronos. but sometimes that state allows for kairos of which i am currently reveling in.
    we do have to treat ourselves on occasion
    xo
    debra

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  4. Oh wow you put this so simply and so beautifully.

    And reading every line of wisdom, I thought "this is SO true!"

    I am going to remember to still down the Chronos, and open up the door to Kairos a little more consciously, a little more often!

    A perfectly beautiful post, Lisa.

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  5. I had to pop by to find out more about kairos.
    You are so right! That is what Patina Farm is all about. It's our way to slow things down; to appreciate the beauty in our lives. You have a gift Lisa. Thank you for sharing it with us and reminding us all to embrace those wonderful moments in our lives...

    xo
    Brooke

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  6. I really needed this today as I am feeling like the pressure of the chronos, as I will try to find my kairos... and just persevere...on and check my list...and race against the hours until the kids get home....
    lots to do!
    wonderful post and reminder to savour the moments.
    pve

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  7. Such a lovely way to tell us to be patient Lisa. I am, I am................sometimes. XO

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  8. Thank you for this wonderful post, Lisa. Patience is the thing I work on the most, every day....so hard sometimes when so many things are pulling me in so many directions. Lovely sentiments here to remember, and fabulous images! Thank you! ~ Joanie @ MAISON de BALLARD

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  9. Lisa, I'm entranced by these images! Love the many watch faces, fresh faces, gowns, moms with children and more. How beautiful! Time is always something we're seeking more of - it is best to make the most of it!

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  10. What a wonderful thoughtful and thought provoking post. I seem to be in full Chronos these days - longing for Kairos - but have been on the other side as well - it's the balance that's so hard!!

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  11. Lisa,
    I love the way your mind works! When my boys were home there never seemed to be enough time and now days I realize how much I waste on things of no importance. Love this post and you are so gifted with your thoughts and prose!
    xo

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  12. Oh Lisa I so needed this today; and to heed your words everyday.

    This is one of the most poignant posts I have read in a long tome. The images, just perfection!

    xoxo
    Karena
    Art by Karena

    Come and enter my fine art giveaway!

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  13. Love moments of solitude and reflection...this is a great reminder about how wonderful they are :) Thx Lisa,

    Best,
    Michelle

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  14. WHAT a great post. You had me the whole way! off to capture some kairos.

    Thank you!

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  15. Grateful for the reminder ... it truly is something learned through experience.

    Jo

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  16. Dear Lisa, I don't even know how to appropriately comment for fear of not expressing myself how I'd like to. This post is an all time best and you have a lot of 'bests'. Each photo so cleverly chosen to represent each thought and carefully selected word. You are such a beautiful writer, and so incredibly talented. I so admire you. Your children are the luckiest to have you as a mom to shape their lives. You are a wise woman and so tender.

    Thank you dear friend for this inspiring post. Ever since my mom & mum-in-law passed I see before me each day this 10ft. clock. It must be a chronos clock? It stares at me and I try to shove it aside and go about my day but it's always there to remind me that we all have a lifetime clock.

    I think I will be re-reading this post many times over & over.

    Sending you love for a wonderful week ahead. xo xo Deb

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  17. Dumbwitt Tellher sent me over ... and so glad she did ! Amazing perspective the hardest thing for me to master... time.

    lisa

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  18. Marguerite NeuhausMarch 22, 2011 at 8:42 PM

    The first time I read your blog and I read THIS. Amen to THIS, this Kairos. Now I have a word to attach to cherished moments. Moments are not minutes, they are Kairos. The beginning of knowledge is to call things by their right names.... so thank you Lisa, for giving me the name of Kairos.


    When I was tiny and my mother held me, I am told I would ask her to hold me for "half a 'mo' ".... half a moment more ... Children know better than anyone the alchemy of reducing Chronos to Kairos..

    Now, when I go out to my garden and the lilacs bloom alongside the wisteria, I close my eyes and take in the blend of scents....and just breathe, that is Kairos...

    Breathing that blend of scent always brings me back to the moments I would sit and pet my very first dog whom I love still with all my heart... We would just sit and inhale the evening and I would think, Dogs live IN their noses, he doesn't just smell this scent he IS this scent so ... we would BE the scent together as we sat close and I cherished him and what was all around us...that was Kairos

    When I stand under the vines now in the first spot of shade to hit the garden... waiting for the Wisteria to bloom .... When I become the scent each year, as I close my eyes, he reappears loyal as ever because canines know Kairos better than anyone...

    Now I teach my boys to sit with our dog and they will bring him back someday when they need his comfort with Kairos.


    Marguerite, who, with her boys sits now with Plohni, remembering Thumper

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