Time Scaffolding

Schedules

“A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days. It is a scaffolding at which a laborer can stand and labor with both hands at sections of time.” Annie Dillard

Do you enjoy unscheduled days? Days you can get up when you want, and do whatever you want, and maybe, do nothing at all? Most people do. I am one of those odd balls that likes to have a schedule. I like to know what is coming, and when. Even now, in my so called “retirement” years, I keep a calendar. I have goals for my day. Otherwise, I walk aimlessly around my house and feel totally out of whack.

I had a conversation with some church folks yesterday while we decorated the Fellowship Hall for a Gospel Night fund raiser. They told me about a sister, now gone, who was so much fun because she loved adventures. She would simply wake up in the morning and say, “I feel like an adventure today!” then get into her car and take off, without the slightest thought for where she was going. “If she made a plan,” they said, “then it wouldn't be an adventure!” There's something to be said for that, I think. Of course, I wouldn't know because I've never tried it.

Most of us function better when we have some structure to our day. What befalls many retired people who give up their scheduled life is depression and anxiety. They feel as if they've lost their usefulness. As Annie Dillard writes, a "scaffolding" on which to stand gives one the assurance of a day anchored to something solid, not just buffeted about by the waves. Of course those of us who “make plans” aren't always able to keep them. Life sometimes happens on an unplanned basis and we have to drop what we're doing and attend to it. But now and then, it would be nice to have an adventure...to just hit the road, choose a direction, and see where you end up. Who knows what one might find along the way. I think I'll plan one!

                                           In the Spirit,

                                                Jane