Slowing Time

On this day we questioning our use of time through the Greek concept of Chronos and Kairos time. And with the question of the day; ‘What is slowing down for you, How does it reflect your relationship to Time? we continued our journey of personal growth.

Within working life we live within tight schedules and are bound by ‘clock time’ that has the impression of moving forward in a linear fashion. This is what the Greeks called Chronos time, after the Greek god of the same name, and is the root for words like ‘Chronology’. This is the sense of time that governs our life, bringing order and structure and birthing such phrases such as ‘Don't waste time’, ‘Time waits for no one’ and ‘Time is money’. 

However the Greeks had another word for time called ‘Kairos’, this was used to counter Linear time and to describe the moments in life where time stood still or was stretched indefinitely. As a concept it falls in line with Einstein’s theory of relativity which proposes that time is relative and never fixed or measurable. On the voyage we look to these Kairos moments for inspiration, beauty and awe amidst the practical necessities and schedules needed to run the ship.