Time and Value

This post was written after drinking quite a bit of so-ja (soju and cider [lemon-lime soda]).

I normally constantly evaluate time, but I wonder, how does one justify it?

Time.

One could spend a lifetime in a single place, thinking about doing something and never doing it. One could spend a lifetime with family. One could spend a lifetime with strangers. One could spend a lifetime learning and never doing. One could spend a lifetime doing and never learning.

One has to balance time. Some time with family, some with friends, some with others, some on work, some on the needy, some thinking, some exploring.

My greatest struggle is balancing time. [blog link to another post]

How does one justify time?

Braid took three and a half years to make. Babycastles can throw an event together in a few days. Which has a larger impact? The impact is the same. Braid effects more people because it is instilled on a distributable medium. Performances only effect the people nearby. If I weren’t in New York, I wouldn’t know about Babycastles. That would have been a shame.

Values change over time.

When I was in the U.S. I justified time for fine art. When I was traveling, I justified time for travel and meeting people. When I was India, I valued my time with family and neighbors. When I was in Hong Kong and Seoul, I justified time with like-minded people.

How can one evaluate time in their life? What’s the most efficient method. What is most balanced?

Life has to be balanced to output great work efficiently. One needs to be social to measure time, yet working to complete a project, and taking care of their family and friends.

While traveling Hong Kong and Seoul, I didn’t feel like working on a an old game which requires hours of programming on of several hours from several people. It didn’t make sense. I could directly effect someone with a public performance that takes less time to create and has the same impact, or even more simply, by talking to them. Why go through the mess of making a game for a medium when one can use new media and public art to effect people directly. I feel that I made some effect to the people I talked to. No work necessary. Just conversation.

When I think about the less fortunate, I think about what I can do. NGO effect people directly, but again, it’s a small audience. Protests and other small statements have little to no effect. Large moves are necessary. What difference can an individual make? Most diplomats enter a system. How did Ghandi and MLK do it? It was just talking. Through letters to powerful individuals or speech. It’s always conversation.

Talking to people is valuable.