My Thoughts on The Time Keeper - Mitch Albom
Time. We are obsessed with it. A due date? Can't be late? Have to be faster, have to get things done, have to keep going, have to keep counting. It's no doubt that math is the most important subject in school and one of the first things you learn is how to keep track of time. I've always been slow. To slow, that's what everyone told me. They nicknamed me sloth. I walked to slowly, I ate to slowly, I did homework to slowly, I understood things to slowly. I always had to be faster, because I was always behind. In camp I recall walking at the back of the group. I was to slow. There's no doubt I probably could have been in front if I wanted to but I liked the woods and at camp we walked through the woods everywhere we went. I enjoyed the trees, the birds, the little frogs that crossed the paths. I had no problem with my pace, but the world did. I had to learn to go faster, everything has to be faster. In school I ate slowly. I savored the food and listened to every word the other kids had to say. I liked hearing there discussions it was interesting. But they rushed and I did not, so I was left with my meal alone and rushing to get to class on time. I worked on homework and it took me hours. I wanted to be sure I got it right I wanted to understand it all. That left me up for hours, 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, I'd be up until midnight doing homework. In school I couldn't write fast enough to keep up with notes. I would weave my head around the people in front of me trying to keep up. So the world move on at a pace much faster than my own. Now I have to be on time, I can't be late, I have to get there, I have to get this done, I'm going to be late. Perfection is forfeit to speed, and speed is what we work for. I tell people that I don't like time, I'm bad at it, I can never keep up. In order to live "right" I keep my eyes on the clock all day, all night. I have to watch the clock. So when I used to pay no mind to the time, things happened when they happened, I now must always watch the clock. I have to count every second so I'm not late, so I don't stay up to long, or sleep in past morning. In truth I hate time. I always have and always will. It feels like a limit that tells you what you can and can't do. What if you don't have time? What if you have to much time? It's 12:25, I'm keeping time like everyone else. Watching the clock because I have to, not because I want to. Because they say I should worry about time, can't be late, I have to watch time. 12:26, another minute. And the time doesn't stop. 12:27, it's still going and I'm still watching, because I have to. But I don't want to.
Ok, that was before I finished the book (I finished it a little while after I wrote that) anyways over all the book was about time. Mostly about not taking it for granted. And it really shows how much we do. Could you ever imagine a world without time. And before you say yes stop and think how many times you use the word time, look at a clock, think what time is it, or think about the future in a day. Once you have that number let me know if you could think of a life without time. So the main characters are Dor (Father Time), Sara, and Victor. Dor needs to help both of them, the one who wants to much time and the one who want to little.
