Reflections on the gift of time

Aline writes: when Bill and I decided to take a year off and move to London, I expected many rewards: exotic travel, new sights, culture changes. But the biggest benefit of the past six months has been the most unexpected: the gift of time. This struck me even in the first few weeks, with the sudden luxury of following my own natural sleeping schedule (mine is approximately 1am-9am). But the ultimate luxury is being able to wake up each day and spontaneously decide what to do: picnic in the garden, travel to another country, go to a museum, draw, play with my cat, read all day, or something new. When I am sick, there is no obligation to go to work and meet my responsibilities. And when I am out and about in London, there is no pressure to get back home and do the laundry or meet the plumber or get some work/schoolwork done. I can stay out as late as I want, go do whatever I want, whenever I want. This summer in London reminded me so much of the summers when I was young before I took all those jobs babysitting and petsitting, when the unstructured time made the afternoons seem so long. But as an adult, it is an indulgence I don’ t take for granted, but one that I often reflect on and wonder at. I know it won’t last forever, but it may be the best gift of this year.