Galilea Week 16: Stop Living On Autopilot

39,998,160 minutes starting.

8,409,600 have already been used.


Say you have 24 chips. Let us take away 6 from sleep. Now you have 18. It is a weekday. Take away 8 chips from school. 10 chips left over. 10 hours of doing what you want to do. Oh, wait, you sacrifice those chips eating, showing, doing chorus, studying. How many do you have left? Time is limited.


A roll of film. It flows like a ribbon in the wind. Every image is a moment from your life. Some images are as clear as the reflections from the ocean that project the beauty of the sky. Some have never got any maintenance. Those films are blurry at best. And a few are completely cut off. Holes in your memory. This roll of film seems to extend to an infinite space. Seems. But this roll of film has a beginning and an end. It is not forever.


In your hand, you hold a digital camera. Storage: 39,998,160 pictures - 8,409,600 pictures used. You bring the camera everywhere. Your best friends’ smiles, laughs, antics are all captured. Everywhere you’ve been, the days where the sky painted the waters pink and purple, the moments where you laugh until you can’t break, you laugh until it feels as if you just did five days worth of ab exercises, and the times where you thoughts are silent and you feel intense peace, they are all captured. 31,588,560 pictures left.


Time is limited. Your memories are limited. Take care of them. Fill it with moments you enjoy. Use your chips and spend it on things that will make you proud. When you remember the images in your film roll, let them make you smile. Capture the moments that leave you with satisfaction. Live for you, take the responsibility of your own life, and live for your own happiness.

 


How I Use My Time



Comments

  1. Mai PMay 22, 2024 at 12:06 AM

    Hey Galilea, I must say I really liked the opening of your blog. Like I have written before there is something about the way that you write that really inspires me and feels so emotionally packed. I had never had an opportunity to read through your writing so I am really glad that I had this opportunity to get to know a little bit more about your style and who you are as a person. As for the opening, the way you commodified time really struck me. I feel like as students we are in this constant cycle of giving up our time in favor of other things under the justification that we will have more time later but that's the thing, which I think you touched on in your blog, we will never have more time than we do right now. There is no such thing as more time, it is always and forever going to be less. That is what made it so impactful when you explicitly listed out the amount of time that we have left in minutes. Everyone thinks that a minute is nothing. You can spend 90 minutes on your phone and think nothing of it but in reality, do you really remember what you did in those 90 minutes and was it worth it? I hope that I can learn to enjoy my time, especially my childhood because I know that it is going away quick and I am sure I am going to miss it.

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  2. John Ray CabanganganMay 22, 2024 at 6:41 PM

    Hey Galilea, this past semester, I've really been enjoying the unique style you employ in your blogs. Your blogs were always interesting to read, kept me engaged, and stood out among other blogs posted in this cohort. The way you describe memory as a digital camera really made me realize the limited amount of memories we can hold. Humans usually live long lives, and we can only hold so many memories along the way. So, its best for us to cherish all the ones we do have. I also liked how you represented time with chips. This captured the fleeting amount of time we have in a day, and pairing with the digital camera, it really shows that the amount of time we have and the memories we can make should mix together nicely. Overall, your vivid style and representing time and memory through chips and a digital camera, kept me engaged with your blog, and was nice to read.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rushil MantriMay 22, 2024 at 8:13 PM

    I have always loved the creative aspect of your blogs, Galilea. It took me a while to understand what point you were making at first, but then it became very clear. Creating such an intriguing analogy really helps us understand how time works, and how scarce it is. Most people take the time we have in a day for granted, as if time doesn’t slip by quickly. Your example is proof that it is. Almost 65% of our day is given to sleeping and school, leaving the rest to enjoy ourselves. Like you said, most of that spare time is used for chores and homework, offering barely any slack for us. We don’t really put it into perspective until someone does it for us. I realized this a while back, and since then, I’ve been trying to take advantage of the time I’ve been blessed with. I spend more time outside, with family, taking naps, and learning new things. I’ve had a great year reading your blogs, Galilea.

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