the tulip festival, and finding time.

Years ago, I cut a quote from Lao Tzu out of Oprah Magazine and taped it on my desk. It reads : "Time is a created thing. To say 'I don't have time' is to say 'I don't want to'"

It took me almost a decade of being over-committed to reevaluate the meaning of this statement. With a million hours in the day, there are a million things I'd love to do; I would answer more phone calls and take a calligraphy class. But, I don't have that luxury.

If Lao Tzu was still around, I'd suggest a little re-write "Time is a created thing. To say 'I don't have time' is to say 'I'd rather do something else'". We're all given the same twenty-four hours every day. It's what we do with them that matters.

Every Spring since I moved back to Portland, I've thought about going to visit my grandmother (who lives 5 hours away in Northern Washington) so we could go to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival together. And, every spring the buds bloomed and were deadheaded without me visiting. I wanted to go, I wanted to spend time with my family. But the tulips only bloom for four weeks a year, and something always came up.

 I think it's important to constantly ask ourselves : how does the way I spend my time reflect what I think matters in life? 

 Lao Tzu got the first part exactly right, time is a created thing. If you want to do something bad enough, you create time for it. You for-go other plans, you look past whatever it is that "comes up". You get in the car and drive to your grandmas, because that is what you chose. That is what matters. That is to say I want to.

(photos) on film with Nikon FM.