Killing Time

 William Faulkner once wrote, “Clocks slay time… time is dead as long as it is being clicks off by little wheels only when the clock stops does time come to life.” I believe that Faulkner is arguing that time is not simply something in which you get things done but something much more valuable.

 Many underestimate the value of time. Since infancy our entire days have practically been mapped out for us, from the time we wake up, to the time we eat, to the time we go to sleep, only to wake up the next morning and do it all over again. Most of our time is spent watching the clocks itself; no longer are we the master of time, but, rather, it is the other way around. We are woken up from sweet dreams by a harsh alarm to a bitter world in which we’ve lost our control to the clock. We clock in to work and school as time slowly fades away waiting for us to make a move, to live, but we maintain a routine. We go days without having time to be ourselves and we ultimately lose ourselves to the stresses of the world.

Faulkner argues that the clocks does nothing but limit our lives and diminish our potential to do something out of the ordinary and great. We constantly worry about how much time we have left that time goes by much faster than it actually is, therefore killing all chances of experiencing life in a different way. It’s only when we don’t know what time it is, that people begin to open their minds to the world and the human mind can thrive without the worries and stresses of work, school and the future.

People are capable of so much more than they are aware of, but because we are in a constant struggle to get work done that we never really have the time do develop ideas of our own. I believe that Faulkner is stating that we are only alive when we aren’t under the pressure of everyday stress and we have the opportunities to connect with other people and build the human connection.  It’s almost as if we are empty shells, machines almost when we are under the control of the clock.

We have to take the time to just stop and take in our surroundings and see what time really is. Time is not just a measurement but it is life itself. It can be measures in laughs and cries, in celebrations and achievements. Time is composed of moments, from the moment you came into the world until the moment you leave. It is the lessons we learn and the mistakes we make. Time is not merely a restraint or limit because it is one of the few things in life that is whatever you want it to be and therefore we should see it that way and treasure it.