By Breanna Shen
Arts and Entertainment Editor
Newspapers around the nation can warn us that we are in the midst of a measles epidemic and a mental health epidemic, but who will warn us that we have all been slowly falling victim to an insidious pandemic, the Chronic Short-of-Time Syndrome?
Our schedules are relentlessly booked to overflowing. Our past idyllic pace of life grows impossibly distant, and our response, too!î
Yet, the changes of the Chronic Short-of-Time Syndrome have taken place. More and more requests of ìI donít have timeî have occurred so gradually that they would have gone unnoticed, if I had not picked up Michael Endeís ìMomoî on a whim.
Published in German in 1973, ìMomoî tells the story of a little orphan girl named Momo, who embarks on a courageous journey to save her city from the time thieves. The time thieves encourage the cityís inhabitants to speed up their lives through ruthless efficiency and timesaving, then consume the ìsavedî time
ìTime is the very essence of life itself, and life exists in our hearts,î Ende writes. Later, he continues, ìAnd all the time that isnít felt by the heart is lost as a rainbow to a blind man.î Thus, you are what you choose to do with your time. While there is an increasing pressure to perform tasks perfunctorily and to turn ourselves into machines of efficiency, Ende reminds us in Momo that in order to truly live, we must understand that the true meaning of saving time is to use it to savor life.
Although written in the pre-internet and pre-cellphone age, Endeís timeless ideas have only become more poignant in our time. His characters ìsavedî time through assembly-line work environments and uniform housing. Our society saves time through electronic gadgets and online shopping. Just like Endeís characters, we find ourselves with less time and less life satisfaction than ever. Perhaps Momoís wisdom on living time to the fullest can help us wake up from our Chronic Short-of-Time Syndrome.
In her speech ìHow to Gain Control of Your Free Time,î time management guru Laura Vanderkam echoed Endeís assertions in her advice that ìwhen we focus on what matters, we can build the lives we want in the time weíve got.î
To make the most of our life, we must drive out the time thieves ó the modern electronic gadgets. Turn off the lifeless cell phone and ignore the empty texts so that we will have time to revel in natureís beauty and bask in the warmth of human conversation. Stop chasing after consumer-culture trends and start reading thought-provoking classics.
Better yet, to get back your stolen time, start reading Endeís timeless classic tonight