Kairos Time
Gemini 1 // making time for connection and a blessing
This will be a short reflection today as I prepare to leave for Florida tomorrow! I have not been away from my kids for this long in over 7 years! Wild. This week walks us into Gemini season and the element of air. I love that I’ll be literally flying through the air this time tomorrow.
Because we are entering the season of air, we will be looking at sword cards this month and the first card up is the 8 of swords. When I look at this card I immediately think of being trapped or stuck. Especially in the traditional decks where a woman is tied up and blindfolded, surrounded by 8 swords - yikes! But the interesting thing about this card, upon closer inspection, is that she really isn’t tied up tightly, her feet are unbound, and the wrappings seem thin and gauzy. You want to shout - free yourself!
I listened to an excellent podcast1 this week, recommended by fellow sub stacker
with Jenny Odell talking on her latest book, Saving Time. I wrote about another of her books a few weeks back and I’ve had this one on my list since (it’s going to be my beach read this weekend in fact!). In this recent book, Odell tackles the concept of time: how our society is completely dominated by the clock and particularly the concept of “time is money.” It’s not that clock time is morally wrong, or that it isn’t a very helpful concept - it obviously is! The problem is that it has become the dominant mode of measuring time and one that is built for profit.
When I look at the 8 swords I’m reminded of how when I look at my calendar right now I can feel this same stuckness. For me it’s the feeling of staring down a mile long to-do list. This feeling is exacerbated in the summer months because I feel like all I’m doing is schlepping kids from one outing/camp/activity to the next and trying to get all my ordinary to-dos done with them in the room! It’s exhausting. That sticky feeling comes when I’m getting too wrapped up in my thoughts and plans and expectations. I feel trapped in my own life.
In the podcast, Odell talked about the difference between chronos (chronological) and kairos (significant or sacred) time. The first night of summer break we had some friends over for dinner. Our plans had been deferred due to illness so we were very excited to connect and the weather was perfect! We grilled out and the kids lit sparklers and played in the yard and before I knew it, it was 10 o’clock! This is a kairos moment to me. We stepped off the conveyor belt of clock time and traveled into a realm of presence and connection. This is what I want more of, and this feels like the medicine of the 8 swords. I want to free myself to experience more oh look, a Baltimore oriole! (swept into migration time), more the-peonies-have-bloomed! (seasonal time) more oh, look at the time! (kindred spirit time).
When our thoughts are keeping us trapped in the to-do list, the schedule, the monotony, and we feel trapped by boredom or busy-ness, the remedy is connection. And lo & behold, the card for Gemini season is the Lovers! It’s such a beautiful reminder that any time our thoughts (swords) need a shift, we can support that shift with good friends, a listening ear, a phone call with a loved one, a dance party, a hug.
May this journey from spring to summer bring you presence, meals that go late into the night, birdsong and blossoms, and kindred-heart connection.
Love this! What a beautiful perspective on time!
Great post, as always. And relatable! While we don’t have a ton planned this summer, I already feel exhausted from mothering duties. Ah well, I’ll be seeking connection, too.