Maybe still at the time of this writing, involuntarily delayed three days
more than planned in Washington, as hundreds of thousands of French people,
millions of Europeans stranded away from home, or others, trapped in Europe
far from their homes by the consequences, may be overstated, of the
irruption of an Icelandic volcano, I could measure the importance of these
amazing moments where the control of time escapes us. With everyone story being
interrupted: work, business, social or romantic gatherings, holidays, more
sustainable migrations.
Sometimes, such a setback, either linked to a volcano or a train strike (or
a more serious event, which mobilizes unexpectedly our attention),
represents a real and significant disadvantage, a real damage: absence to
unique events, which cannot be moved on your calendar, like the presentation
of a project in front of a customer in a hurry; a missed presentation of
original research in a major scientific seminar, participation in a trade
fair or trade show. Sometimes it creates new needs, such as the need to find
other ways to occupy children during the ruined holidays. So we see unfold
treasures of energy, to arrive at destination, by all means, even the most
incredible.
Very often, once the initial disappointment has passed, the missed
appointments appear to be irrelevant: almost everything can wait.
More generally, it is for everyone an opportunity to ask if, what should be done and
can no longer be done, was really important, or even if this could be done differently, remotely.
The answer is very often cruel: many things we thought urgent, prove, when
adversity gets involved, unimportant. Many meetings which we believed were
necessary are actually wasted time. Even more, how many people have been
happy not to take a train or a plane to go to some absurd meeting, they were
unable or did not know how to retract from?
There is an urgent need to recall the obvious, known to all philosophers
since antiquity, and which we love to forget so much: our life is not ours
and is the property of all those, countless numbers, who decide of our
schedule, because they have emotional, economic, social or
political power over us.
By forcing us for a moment not to obey them, the volcanic cloud has done a
great service to many slaves of time. It allowed them to become aware of the
importance of rebellion against these masters.
This should at least lead us all to be much more demanding in our time
management; to keep, as far as possible, extensive available time slot, just
for ourselves. Those time slots which become free when a trip is cancelled.
This should also lead our nation to understand that in our time, like all
those which preceded it, man is master of nothing if he is not first master
of himself.