Time

Let’s be honest, being American doesn’t really conjure up the same mental image it did 50 years ago. Today, we Americans have a lot on our plate. Our military is spread throughout the world, our economy is in the gutter, China is quickly surpassing us as a world leader, and our politicians can’t seem to do anything besides argue. We’re stressed out, and it’s taking a physical toll. Physically, as a population, 33.8 % of us suffer from obesity, and about one in every three adults has high blood pressure. Another 15% of our friends and family has high cholesterol levels, and that doesn’t count the percentage of Diabetics. The CDC predicts that 1 in 4 of us will die from a heart attack, and in 2006 there were about 630,000 deaths from heart disease alone. Every year, about 785,000 Americans will have their first heart attack, and another 470,000 who have already had a heart attack will have another one (CDC.Gov).

After taking these statistics into consideration, and realizing that the rest of the world judges us based on the image presented by Lady Gaga and the cast of The Jersey Shore, it’s no wonder why we’re so stressed all the time. Combined with the fact that we might very well be on the brink of the Mayan-predicted 2012 apocalypse, it’s pretty clear that we’re all just really stressed out. We are frazzled, worn down, and biting our nails every second, anxiously anticipating our next move and Shnooki’s next book deal.

             Spain, however, has helped me realize why we’re so stressed all the time.  

            We grow up and live our lives according to the time-money metaphor. I remember some of the earliest things I learned being that “time is money,” and to “spend my time wisely,” or to “budget my time.” I used to drive instead of walk or bike in order to “save time,” as if sacrificing cardiovascular health and the environment would help me save time and money. When we relax with friends, we are “spending time with someone,” and when we practice a skill or study, we are “investing in our futures.” We even schedule time to relax! Doesn’t that defeat the purpose? We place monetary value on relationships and everything we do because we are literally ‘spending’ our valuable seconds and minutes like pennies and dollar bills at the grocery store. We have turned people and experiences into money, and what could that possibly say about us as people?

 The idea that time has monetary value is deeply engrained in our collective conscious as a culture, and we worry that any ‘wasted time’ will somehow, God-forbid, hurt us financially, jeopardizing our futures and the lives of our loved-ones. We live according to a clock, and in America, the clock is directly linked to money. Almost every choice we make is chosen in regard to some aspect of a moneymaking pursuit. I’ll be honest; I came to Spain to learn Spanish so I’ll be able to get a better job someday. Of course I came to have fun, see the world, and become a better person, but you can’t deny the inherent, sub-conscious monetary motivation behind everything we do. It’s no wonder why we’re so stressed. What else can we do besides smoke and over-eat to calm our nerves? 

   This picture is completely unrelated. It was taken in el mercat de Boquería, just off of Las Ramblas, in the seafood section.

            Industries are built around the idea that fast and efficient is always better, just look at speed dating and online dating. It’s built around the idea of convenience and speed. Why spend the time investing in a relationship when it can be done at the click of a button, or in 30-minute cycles during your lunch break? Smart phones and computers are built around the same concept – to do the most tasks in the shortest time possible, in the easiest way possible.

            Well, Spain does it differently. In Cádiz, time moved slowly, to the point where it felt like time was at a standstill. Here in Barcelona, I’m pretty sure that time doesn’t even exist. Spaniards don’t go out until 1 or 2 a.m. once they’ve finished dinner, and they don’t come back until the early morning, or when they’re good and ready. There is no direct translation for ‘jetlag’ in Spanish, my teacher told me that it was simply a ‘cambio de horario,’ or a ‘change of schedule.’ Time, in Spain, is irrelevant. After all, who cares about time when you’re busy living and enjoying life?

            So, my question is, what would happen if we reinvested our time into people and relationships rather than our futures and financial pursuits? Investing might be the wrong word, but as an American I don’t really have the vocabulary to describe what I’m witnessing here with Spanish culture. I’m just saying, that instead of always looking forward and budgeting our time, maybe we could try living in the present, with the people we’re with. Maybe if we just sat back, took a deep breath, and shared a beer every once in a while instead of running around, stuffing McDonald’s down our throats to make it to our speed dating session or our Cardiologist appointments we could see how lucky we are to have the people around us. Then again, I’m just writing this blog to get some writing experience for my resume, and ‘invest in my future.’ Being a hypocrite is the American way, right? It’s my culture, what am I supposed to do?

                                              Now that's what I call a good investment.

Word of the Day: Estrés - Stress 

No tengo el estrés ahora. I don't have stress.