quality versus quantity

“the bigger they are, the more the much.” my mother says this on occasion and, though i have no idea of its origin, it is an all-too-apt description of the society in which we live. every time i see a hummer or some other ginormous vehicle on a residential street or expressway, the first thing that comes to mind is, “why?” why do you need a vehicle that was originally built to haul artillery across the desert to carry you and your dog to the park? why do you spend five times as much on gas than is necessary (’cause, let’s face it, even my little honda feels like a gas guzzler these days) if you don’t absolutely have to? why do you choose to drive something so large that it won’t fit in a conventional parking spot? why, why, why, why, why?

what is the obsession with bigger, better, and more? maybe i’m just a simple girl at heart, but i just don’t understand it. i mean, i’m not totally a bare essentials kinda gal, but, in most ways, i live on only what i need. and right now, the only thing i need more of is time. time to get things done, time to spend with family and friends, time to be good to myself and those i love.

david and i had a discussion this past week about what will be the best use of our time over the next three weeks. he needs to program, i need to pack. he needs to clean, i need to pack. he needs to get the apartment ready for my piano to be moved in on monday, i need to pack. but we can’t do these things together, because then everything will take twice as long (and the thought of me helping him program is just plain ridiculous). so we decided that, for the next twenty-one days, we will just have to spend less time together, but we’ll also have to make the times that we are together quality time.

don’t just sit and watch arrested development re-runs. don’t just veg out and do nothing. don’t just talk about the wedding.

do talk about our days. do eat a meal together. do be intentional about the time we’re spending together, and about recognizing when that time must come to an end so we can accomplish the tasks set before us.

it may mean that the next few weeks aren’t as much fun or that we risk feeling disconnected at this important time in our lives, but if we use our time wisely, i am hopeful that we will look back on these days and know that we did our best to assure quality in our lives, despite the diminution of quantity.