Does Anybody Really Know What Time It is?

Time. It is a dimension, like space. A thing that is complex and never ending that we as humans place and stamp with a clock and calendar so as to measure and define and objectify our importance and significance against it. We are truly insignificant against time, because, in the end, it still goes on indefinitely, beyond our comprehension, beyond our understanding, beyond our reach.

But we still measure time, because it is real, and the reality of time difference is very real.  I am in HST, Hawaiian Standard Time, which as of Sunday became a 3-hour time difference with my PST (Pacific standard time) friends and family, not to mention 5 and 6 hours with my Central and Eastern friends...and because of the ease of communication via phone, text, e-mail and Facebook, one would think that communication would be easy these days (compared to the days when my parents had to call their parents in India at all times of the day and night and talk at the top of their lungs just to be heard)...but it is not easy. Communication from here on the islands is difficult, it is a challenge, and it is frustrating at times.

It is now 7:30 pm here in Kauai. And it is a time where I have a natural inclination to pick up the phone and call my friends, call my family...but it is 10:30 in California and it is too late to call...forget about calling my friends/family in Chicago or Texas or New York...that window ended hours ago...

I had read about the isolation that people feel with not being able to communicate with their loved ones, but the onset of the reality of this is quite harsh. Communication with the West Coast basically breaks down at 6pm. It makes for a long evening into the night, and it makes one realize the dependence we truly have on the people we reach out to on a regular basis. The ability to pick up the phone and make a call is a concept that I once remembered...now, I pick up the phone, look at the time, and most often realize that I cannot make a call or text I wanted to make...it is most often too late. Luckily I am a morning person, and the ability to draw energy and connection in the morning is most often a reality, but sometimes it is not, and there are times when it takes days for me to connect with particular individuals because of scheduling issues.

Time. Just those few hours make such a big difference in the ability to communicate. I am feeling those hours, I am feeling those minutes, I am feeling lonely...because of time.