Time and the Trickster Archetype

December 26, 2013 — discernment, time, trickster

How is your relationship with time?  A busy, rattled life may or may not bring satisfaction. One thing it can’t bring is free time. This is a gift you must find for yourself.  How can we define free time?  Is it doing something that is free of cost?  Is it free form, without a preconceived schedule or goal?  Is it free from all previous habits and delusional thinking?  Clearing the schedule involves being clear about priorities.  Find time in your life by observing carefully what happens to your time.

• Schedule practice times for skills you want to improve
• Budget time to find new pleasures
• Eliminate time spent in unhappy pursuits
• Liberate one day a week to do things differently
• Examine the trickster in your emotional landscape
• Learn a meditation practice to follow

It is time to plant the seeds to be harvested later.  Contemplative use of time and seasons brings meaning and depth to daily life.  Without perspective we often fall deeply into habitual use of time that is both wasteful and depressing.  The spark of new joy can be consciously brought into being by doing things differently on a regular basis.  This can be as simple as taking a new path to work, trying a new food, an art gallery, or activity.  It is not important to spend money to change the habitual use of time; It is important to notice how much time is invested in unhappy activities.  We can distinguish between duties that are unpleasant and bad habits by confronting the inner trickster who will always identify with your shadow instincts.  The trickster inhabits the emotional territory enforcing crazy concepts that keep you stuck in emotional sludge.  Look for a tendency to make excuses and flake out on your own best intentions.  Meditation is the remedy for trickster tendencies, because it clears the mind allowing spacious, free time.

We have a finite amount of time, and once it has been spent in one way, it can never be retrieved or recycled.  As the new year approaches, why not take a new look at time and happiness?  They are closely related.