Rediscovering Our Timeless Selves

What did you do as a child that created timelessness, that made you forget time? There lies the myth to live by.  – Joseph Campbell

As children we moved through time effortlessly, as if the constraints of time that bound adults did not apply to us. When we freely associate with that thought, one of the words that comes to mind is freedom. Freedom from the responsibilities that we would learn to take on in time as we grew to adulthood. Freedom from the stresses that in later years would become our constant companions. Freedom to be fully present in the moment because our minds were uncluttered.

Then we started school and suddenly time mattered. Getting to school on time. Completing work assignments on time. Being on time for the school bus. Getting to soccer practice or ballet lessons on time. We studied language and science, history and mathematics, subjects that would inform our ability to be productive and contributing members of society. Invaluable knowledge, indeed, even as our minds were becoming cluttered.

As our ‘timeless selves’ matured on the road to adulthood, time became our master, and with good cause. After all, no one would argue whether time is of the essence when a surgeon operates on a trauma patient whose life hangs in the balance, or when a pilot makes important last-minute adjustments before safely landing a flight with several hundred passengers.

So how do we answer Joseph Campbell’s question, what made us forget about time when we were children? I’m reminded of the story about two scientists who visited a Buddhist monk to pose questions they found perplexing.

The monk offered the scientists tea and proceeded to pour it until their cups were overflowing. Puzzled, the scientists pointed out that their teacups were overflowing. The monk agreed and told them their minds were like the teacups, filled to overflowing, and that they should empty their minds and then return with their questions.  

Campbell’s myth of timelessness isn’t about avoiding life’s responsibilities and educating and preparing ourselves to reach our full human potential. It is about rediscovering the sacred place within ourselves that is timeless and that we frequented as children. It is a place that does not exist in yesterday or tomorrow; it exists only in today. We reach it by clearing our minds of all the clutter that has accumulated over the years, being fully present in the here and now, a place where, happily, we forget time, however briefly.