It’s Good To Waste Some Time Every Day

We rarely give ourselves the gift of time without expectations.

Vincent Van Patten

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Photo by Egor Myznik on Unsplash

I love the little pockets of time between the moving and the expectations when I allow myself to just be. Paradoxically, it’s in the moments when I can just be rather than do where I better understand what it means to be me.

I can take a breath.

These pockets of being inspire the doing, but so often, we blow right through these in-between moments, either distracting ourselves or feeling guilty for merely existing.

I enjoy waiting — perhaps for an appointment at the city office, or for my number to be called at a sandwich shop, or for the train to arrive. I particularly enjoy sitting on the train during an off hour. I gaze out the window and my eyes track the shifting landscape, the buildings, the colors, the light.

Rather than watch a movie for entertainment, I’d prefer sitting in an open square, on a bench at the park, or on the corner of a busy street watching the world go by. I observe what people are wearing, how we’re interacting, what makes us laugh or scowl; I notice how we hold one another, or how we don’t. I laugh at kids being kids.

It’s rare that we give ourselves the gift of time without expectations.

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Vincent Van Patten
Vincent Van Patten

Written by Vincent Van Patten

Exploring what lights my soul on fire while living a nomadic life. vincentvanpatten.com

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