For centuries we have used time to impose order, knowledge, hierarchy, and direction on the world around us. Yet our present moment refuses to inhabit time within these boundaries. Around the world, buds are blooming “too early,” winters aren’t fully arriving, time bends as long-buried carbons emerge to haunt the future. And so our modern conceptualization of time—one grounded in control and progress—slowly unravels to reveal the possibilities within a dynamic, unruly form of time.
“I find there to be something very hopeful about the fact that, actually, we do retain the ability to speak these other languages of time.” — Jenny Odell
In this episode, we feature an expansive interview with Jenny Odell, author of Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock, in which we speak about the social and cultural ideas that underpin standardized, mechanized time. Imagining a transition toward a different kind of time—a gardening of time in which we tune in to the rhythms and patterns of the Earth—Jenny invites us to embrace breaks in the standard, forward march of time that can allow us to glimpse the inherent unpredictability and creativity of every moment.
This episode is part of the Emergence Magazine Listening Hour—a special limited series exploring the timeless connections between ecology, culture, and spirituality.
