Deep goosebumps as two books I'm reading collide in the most wondrous way! Creating Time took me deeper into understanding the quality of TIME described by the Greek word, Kairos. Carry On, Warrior hooked me up with the wincingly spot-on term, Carpe Kairos.
Glennon Doyle Melton writes brilliantly about all the people - especially the little old ladies - who stop her in the store, at the mail, at the drycleaners to say how much they hope she is enjoying every moment of this time with her little ones, how precious it is. "Carpe Diem!" These messages often being delivered as she's trying to prevent her little ones from various forms of mayhem.
Instead of Carpe Diem!, Glennon believes we should Carpe Kairos!
Funny, reading that less than 30 minutes after deciding to illustrate the relationship between Kairos (numinous time) with Kronos (sequential time). To quote Creating Time, Kronos is the time of clocks and calendars; it can be quantified, measured... Kairos is a time of festivals and fantasies; it cannot be controlled or possessed. Kairos is circular, dancing back & forth, here and there, without beginning or ending, and knows no boundaries.
The original art project I come up with to illustrate the interplay between Kairos & Kronos was to create a collage an image of Robin Williams dancing on top of a clock. Over lunch, decided on two trapeze artists - the ropes & bars & even humans are Kronos, while the space they fly through going from one to another is the Kairos experience.
Here is what Glennon says about Kairos & Kronos - - There are two different types of time. Chronos time is what we live in. It’s regular time, it’s one minute at a time, it’s staring down the clock till bedtime time, it’s ten excruciating minutes in the Target line time, it’s four screaming minutes in time out time, it’s two hours till daddy gets home time. Chronos is the hard, slow passing time we parents often live in.
Then there’s Kairos time. Kairos is God’s time. It’s time outside of time. It’s metaphysical time. Kairos is those magical moments in which time stands still. I have a few of those moments each day, and I cherish them.
It's flying through space, from one bar to the next. It's the moments we can't plan & never forget.
I'm with Glennon - forget Carpe Diem. Carpe Kairos!
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