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Conference quark::human_relations-v1

Title:What's all this fuss about 'sax and violins'?
Notice:Archived V1 - Current conference is QUARK::HUMAN_RELATIONS
Moderator:ELESYS::JASNIEWSKI
Created:Fri May 09 1986
Last Modified:Wed Jun 26 1996
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1327
Total number of notes:28298

423.0. "Time -- the ultimate enemy?" by VIDA::BNELSON (California Dreamin'...) Wed Oct 28 1987 21:16

I recently came upon a song that I find I relate to very strongly.  It talks
about how we, the human race, tend to live our lives too quickly and we don't
enjoy -- as fully as we could -- what we have around us right _now_.  Now, I
certainly can't speak for the rest of the human race, but for myself it's SO
true!  As soon as I took the time to sit down and _think_ about the words,
I realized that they were more profound than I had at first realized, for I
consider it profound when someone talks about their own experience and it in
fact says something about us all ( or at least a good share of us ).


Interestingly, the timing for me to find this song was perfect.  I had just
finished about 3 weeks worth of working very long days and weekends to fix
up a crisis here at work.  You know the kind -- wake up, go to work, come
home and go to bed!  Talk about not having time to enjoy things!  Still, it
made listening to this song all the sweeter.


On top of that, the fifth stanza reminds me of a letter written to me by a
very dear friend, so if for no other reason than _that_ I would certainly
have loved this song.


Anyway, I was wondering how many of you out there in HR land find this true
of your lives as well?


The lyrics follow...  Hope you enjoy it.


Brian

********************************************************************************

                                Time Stand Still


	I turn my back to the wind
	To catch my breath,
	Before I start off again
	Driven on,
	Without a moment to spend
	To pass an evening
	With a drink and a friend

	I let my skin get too thin
	I'd like to pause,
	No matter what I pretend
	Like some pilgrim --
	Who learns to transcend --
	Learns to live
	As if each step was the end

	Time stand still --
	I'm not looking back --
	But I want to look around me now
	See more of the people
	And the places that surround me
	Now

	Freeze this moment
	A little bit longer
	Make each sensation
	A little bit stronger
	Experience slips away...

	I turn my face to the sun
	Close my eyes,
	Let my defences down --
	All those wounds
	That I can't get unwound

	I let my past go too fast
	No time to pause --
	If I could slow it all down
	Like some captain,
	Whose ship runs aground --
	I can wait until the tide
	Comes around

	Make each impression
	A little bit stronger
	Freeze this motion
	A little bit longer
	The innocence slips away...

	Summer's going fast --
	Nights growing colder
	Children growing up
	Old friends growing older
	Experience slips away...


                                                  Rush, from
                                                  "Hold Your Fire"
                                                     Geddy Lee
                                                     Alex Lifeson
                                                     Neil Peart ( lyrics )
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
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423.1I gotta run...KYOA::HANSONMe procrastinate? You Just Wait!Wed Oct 28 1987 23:3040
    
    Gee, I'd like to reply, but I don't seem to have much time...
    
    8^)
    
    Those are great lyrics, and I could see how they might have hit
    home for you, for the way things in general are going these days,
    I don't know of too many people who haven't stopped every now
    and then, turned their back to the wind, only to realize that they
    have to press on... usually too quickly.
    
    How many times have we heard of this, and in how many ways?
    
    "Take time to smell the flowers."
    
    "As soon as I can get around to it."
    
    "One of these days I'm gonna take time out for myself,"
    
    And yet we still find ourselves feeling caught in a river of
    time and passing events, realizing that if we stop for even a
    moment, we'll be pushed backward like an exhausted salmon who
    shouldn't have taken that last break.
    
    Sometimes, we all feel a bit overwhelmed by the pace.  Methinks
    the best thing to do is to do as much as you can on any given day,
    (today), leave for tomorrow those things you can't take care of now, and
    take some time to yourself whenever you need it.  For me, it's only
    by keeping things as much in perspective as possible and adapting,
    with a smile, to these changing situations that seems to allow me
    to fully enjoy the time that I spent... today.
             
    When things seem to get to fast for you, how do you cope with
    the pace?   If you had -n- amount of time, what would you do
    to fulfill yourself?
    
    It might be interesting to know.
    
    Bob
    
423.2warm and fuzzyGNUVAX::BOBBITTsprinkled with syntactic sugarThu Oct 29 1987 12:528
    I recently discovered a book covering just this kind of thing.
    
    Leo Buscaglia's "Bus Nine To Paradise"
    
    Kind of makes you feel warm and fuzzy and glad to be alive.
    
    -Jody
    
423.3trying to balance...SAFETY::JACOBSThu Oct 29 1987 22:0513
    It reminds me of a line from (ee cummings? or ogden nash?):
    
         Sometimes I sits and thinks
    
         And other times I just sits.
    
    
    
    I tend to put lots of things "on the stack" and wind up doing not
    as much as I'd like, but lots of things anyhow... So what if I never
    become a concert flutist or a famous artist; at least I've enjoyed
    practicing.  On the other hand, when I get in the mood for doing 
    nothing at all but sitting around in a sunny orchard... I go do it!  
423.4Female SingerPNEUMA::DECAROLISFri Oct 30 1987 16:086
    
    Is that the lead singer from "Till Tuesday" singing the
    backup female vocals in Time Stand Still???
    
    jd/
    
423.5AXEL::FOLEYThis is my impressed lookFri Oct 30 1987 16:126
    
    
    	Yes, Aimee Mann IS singing backup on that tune and is in thier
    	video..
    
    							mike
423.6them old songsARCANA::CONNELLYSing, for all the singing birds are goneWed Nov 04 1987 01:333
Then there's "Time Won't Let Me" (the Outsiders?) and "Time
the Avenger" (the Pretenders) and "Time Has Come Today" (the
Chambers Brothers)...
423.7No Time Like the PresentWLDWST::WASHEnjoying the experienceWed Feb 03 1988 09:5311
    In our goal-oriented society, people can overlook the wonders of
    the day by focusing on the dreams of tomorrow ...... always looking
    ahead instead of embracing what surrounds them. We can make valuable
    contributions to the lives of others (and thus to our well-being)
    if we simply learn to enjoy/appreciate/accentuate the moments and
    events that describe our daily existence.
    
    Time has always been my friend - the passage of time is no threat,
    it is instead a promise, a gift, an eternity.
    
                                                     Marvin
423.8ENJOY THE PRESENTSEDJAR::ORLOWSKITue Sep 13 1988 16:4621
    I would like to talk to the people ( you know who you are ...) who
    finally get a few moments, after your lawn is cut, after the trash
    is dumped, after the house is cleaned, after the kids are asleep,
    and so on and so forth, to sit and do nothing. Sometimes we even
    take a day off by ourselves so we can escape all the daily tasks
    (".....I'm not going to do anything today but relax and smell the
    roses......"). After an hour or two of smelling, we start looking
    for something to do because we are getting bored.
    
    My point is this,,,,, Just because we are always busy doing something
    doesn't mean we can't smell the roses while we are engaged in the
    particular activity. If we would STOP rushing to finish a task or
    STOP rushing to get somewhere so we can sit idle and get bored,
    we would have our cake and eat it too. 
    
    ....talk about relieving stress,car accidents.........................
    
    RELAX AND ENJOY WHAT YOU ARE PERSENTLY DOING....................
    
    
                                 -STEVE