Dear Reader,

A wish — an invocation — a blessing;

To all of you at this holiday season, with adoration:

I could wish for many outlandish, pricey, or grandiose things this holiday — most are certified loads of hogwash; idle fantasies that we toy with to amuse ourselves and dig ourselves out of our miserable existence.    They are difficult if not impossible to achieve.   Scores desire, many try, most fail.

There is one thing, however, that I have observed and it is so incredibly fulfilling and truly awe-inspiring that I wish it to each of you ever so much:

Real Time

Our daily lives are inundated with piles of mental requirements and “multitasking” is the key word to much employment these days.    Whether it is juggling departmental projects, remembering to pick up the milk, or to shut the door to the basement so your toddler doesn’t bounce down the stairs, we are always thinking ahead, planning our moves, strategically shuffling the chess pieces of our lives to ensure the best of outcomes.

Suffice it to say, we don’t spend a lot of time observing the current moment because we’re distracted by thinking ahead.   And most of that’s good, but it can be overwhelming at times, and most importantly, we can miss things.

Real things.

In Real Time.

Think not that Real Time is what you are sold on Hallmark commercials and jewelry sales.    It is not the eggnog and the mistletoe, the Christmas turkey or the shining menorah.  You cannot be sold a moment of bliss.

Real time is not simply appreciating what you have now.   It is not “taking a moment” or “slowing down” to observe the holidays.    “Peace on Earth” doesn’t capture its unique nature.    Hallelujahs do not hold the key to this phenomenon.   It is not necessarily found in a manger.

It is a unique form of momentary existence that is rare, hard to achieve, and precious to behold.   It is the elusive diamond in the rough, the unexpected treasure, the gift that gives only fleetingly yet lingers for a thousand times more.

You cannot work for it — indeed, doing so chases it away, and you cannot plan for it, carving out a spot on your calendar.    Real Time comes when it warrants and stays as it pleases and whisks away just as quickly.    And if you don’t realize what it is, you’ll miss it, too.

Real Time is when all the pre-planning, preparation, and foresight vanish from your mind; not simply on the back burner, but gone from existence.   All the multiple layers of multi-tasking collapse and flatten into a silky smooth pool of thought.   The balls you are juggling fall sharply to the floor and disappear.   You are left, for only a moment — nay, a second — with a clean slate; a bare tablet and freshly-sharpened pencil for which to cherish life.   You have nothing to prepare, nothing to plan, nothing to anticipate.    You simply ARE for that moment in time.   Real Time.

It is — without question — incredible.

For once there are no demands, no pressures, no influences.   Jumbled thoughts disappear into the ether — analysis goes away.    All faculties are suddenly finely tuned towards the exact happenings right in front of you and absolutely nowhere else.    All that horsepower hitched to one single, colorful cart is simply overwhelming in its intensity.

We are not wired for such a state.    Humans are not programmed to stay at a rest, un-touched by the outside, all resources focused so narrowly, so Real Time does not linger.   It will leave no instructions, no calling card, no evidence that it came.

But you’ll know.    You will know afterwards that what you had was a moment in your life so brief you couldn’t possibly tie it to something so large and arbitrary as a calendar or clock or describe it in terms so harsh and garish as clichés or epitaphs, but it was there, and you were, too.   For once you were completely and totally there and nowhere else.

Real time can be anywhere and can be triggered by anything, but unsurprisingly it often happens most frequently when we do those things that connect us and ground us and centre us — the smell of your child’s skin, the depth of your lover’s eyes, the silence of a soft snowfall, the twinkle of a candle.   You cannot search for it; Real Time caters to none.   But it lurks in that which means most to each of us.

May you find a few, unexpected, surprising,  but sparkling moments of Real Time this holiday season, and may they warm your heart for a long, long time to come.

From all of mine to all of yours, the best of repasts.

Nathan, Yolanda, and Keston