Instant Generation

As people living in relatively big cities go, I've always thought of myself as having a slow pace. I love lazy mornings, and lazy afternoons, and... lazy evenings too. I feel like a lot of people around me are in a race to get things done, and experience things, and not lose a single moment. I'm a bit laid back in comparison. I could TEACH the art of smelling the roses, and whiling away the time, and floating along patiently until the next best thing.

Or so I thought.

Until recently when I had a whole bunch of experiences - you know... the kind that make you grow (I hope), and learn, and mature (again, I hope). And as experiences go, I am not naive enough to believe that many haven't undergone bigger or more or worse or better. But they were significant enough for me to be thrown off-kilter... for a while. For a seemingly LONG while.

And then I realized: I'm not as patient as I previously thought. You see I have access to goods, and services, that are built to save time. That's why I'm able to loll about as much as I do. There's fast food everywhere, pre-cut vegetables, two-minute noodles, and instant microwavable meals. There's also home delivery and take-out. There's internet and telephone and airplane freight and travel, which makes the waiting of just a few years ago appear obscene and inefficient. This is not to say there are entire societies still living in a whole different level of pace. But well... I'm talking about me here. And for me, and the life I'm living, I'm not really used to having to wait for things. And while this is great from the consumer me point-of-view, it's kind of screwed me up on the personal point-of-view.

You see, what I have finally learned is that personal growth and maturity is a slower process.

A. Much. Slower. Process.

It takes a while for you to evaluate your experiences and reactions and challenges and see what they mean to you, and how best to accept and accommodate them into your life. I've driven myself, and a whole lot of poor people crazy trying to understand the whys and whats and hows and what do these things mean queries because I wanted instant understanding and instant fixes. As a friend said, we of the instant generation want to rush into, and out of, everything. Action, reaction and assimilation. We're a pretty arrogant bunch like that. We have forgotten to respect time - something we really have NO control over.

Even that microwavable meal underwent a lengthier processing time, than it takes to heat it. We forget. I forgot.

Lesson are far from instant. Epiphanies appear to be... but there's a quiet rumination that pushes them forward. That's what this epiphany tells me anyway!


I'll end with a beautiful quote by Haruki Murakami: “As time goes on, you’ll understand. What lasts, lasts; what doesn’t, doesn’t. Time solves most things. And what time can’t solve, you have to solve yourself.”

I'm working on solving what I can... and well... there's just no rushing time!