live for one day without looking at a clock or knowing what time it is

As I said in my first entry, I have done this (or approximated it) while camping or backpacking. Now, it’s mostly impossible, and I’m going to mark it as completed but want to do again (when not impossible). Since I work through the summer now, and even my vacations are guided by plane and train timetables, this isn’t very realistic now. I might go backpacking this summer, and I might take this goal up again then.

I completed this multiple times years ago on boy scout camping trips. Hope to do so again someday but as if now its not practical so it doesn’t belong on my list.

The very concept that this goal promotes diametrically contradicts the very fabric of western civilization. Our mornings are propelled very quickly into the reality of a new day as our digital alarm clocks vibrate on our bedside table and we reluctantly cast a wary glance at the neon red digits illuminating the darkened room… Our awakened state has been christened by the knowledge that we have but 17.5 hours left in the day.

From the moment we silence the blaring alarm and rise from our beds to greet the morning, time happens upon us like an unconscious countdown… everywhere we go we are reminded that another minute or hour has passed, it imprints upon our mind that there are still things left unsaid, jobs yet to be done, thoughts to be fleshed out and phone calls to be made before the world resumes its darkened state. Our houses have been digitally ameliorated with built in oven clocks; online computers, alarm systems and the like, and even a casual glance at our laptop screen will dispel our ignorance of time’s passing with its small digital clock inescapably obvious on the bottom right hand corner of our LCD.

As we drive to work, we cannot help but notice the tall erect frames of mirrored skyscrapers, vertical shrines consecrating each passing minute with large digital clocks synchronized with Greenwich meantime. Peak hour traffic denotes the passing hour and our in-car radio display acquaints us with a more residual reminder that time’s passing is inevitable. Every moment of our day is held accountable by time and in western society its verification is inescapable.

I sought to translate this goal into reality in my daily life but found my attempts of removing my watch or stalling a clock proved ineffective in their attempts. There always seemed to be some measure of time imposed upon me that was unforeseen or inescapable. I did resolve however when I was in Cambodia of late, to surmount this daunting task when I had opportunity to spend a day by myself touring around the ancient temples of Siem Riep. I awoke at 4:30am (admittedly by alarm) and organised a tuk tuk to take me to Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise. The new sun of the 21st century, rising above a civilization over a 1000 years old is quite a paradox, yet I think it’s the only way to really see Angkor in its true antediluvian beauty. In the serenity of watching the morning sun rising over the ancient horizon… the delineation of our time was lost. Beauty and ancient splendor surpassed concerns of time’s passing and for a single day I found myself lost in a world of ancient religion, culture and history, completely oblivious to the present day and hour.

Though the day was not without some indication of time’s passing with the early morning wake up call and the admission of time when I eventually retired to bed – it did offer me an incomparable sense of freedom. For one day I was accountable to no one for my dispense of time, discharged of responsibility, liberated from obligation and set free from the world of man to solitary reclusion and introspection. It was a day I shall never forget.

Around a week ago the battery in my watch died on me. I then started using my backup watch which is a mechanical pocket watch which at first was a pain until I got used to it. I’m already finding myself obsession less over the checking the time every few minutes and more focused on what I’m doing as I’m too lazy to take the watch out of my pocket and open it every few minutes. Not to mention that I also carry a PDA and use alarms to give me heads up to any appointments, so strictly speaking I don’t even need the pocket watch.

Thinking about how to have a timeless day has made me realize how obsessed we have become with time in the West. For example, not only would one have to avoid clocks and watches but also computers as even if you put a piece of tape over the bottom corner of the screen that has a clock you would also have to avoid things like 43 Things and email which give you time stamps and how long ago it was posted/received from which on can figure out the time. So it looks like the others were right about the camping idea (with cell phone and watch left in the car) is the only way that something like that would be possible. Oh and it would have to be a weekend trip because you couldn’t drive because the car has a clock in it.

many years ago, i once lost my watch in the chihuahuan desert, sometime around june 3rd or 4th. i looked up one day and realized it was august… it’s a great way to live, the happiest time of my life yet….

I stopped wearing a watch in January when I started working for myself. I am no longer governed by time and do my own thing. I find it does give you a sense of freedom and recommend it for anyone who can get away with it. I now only wear a watch for dress, and the last time I put it on, discovered it had stopped on the 16th of “some” month.

I spent a month alone in the bush north of Katherine in the Northern Territory. I did have my dog and some books for company. When reading Watership down, I lived the rabbit adventure day and night. Also chased brumbies and kangaroos, followed the creek swimming and drinking from the waterholes. Discovered I have a need to be productive.

“What a dead thing is a clock, with its ponderous embowelments of lead and brass, its pert or solemn dullness of communication, compared with the simple altar-like structure and silent heart-language of the old sundials! It stood as the garden god of Christian gardens. Why is it almost everywhere vanished? If its business-use be superseded by more elaborate inventions, its moral uses, its beauty, might have pleaded for its continuance. It spoke of moderate labours, of pleasures not protracted after sunset, of temperance, and good hours. It was the primitive clock, the horologue of the first world. Adam could scarce have missed it in Paradise”

Charles Lamb

When I used to lead youth outdoor trips one rule was – no watches. Kids were not allowed to bring a watch. Trips were 1-2 weeks long. What a great thing to not worry about the time!

When I go camping now I still don’t bring a watch.