Decolonizing Time (in the Era of Coronavirus)

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted our patterns of overwork and overdoing and how we are largely trapped in our white supremacist work culture, which is to say we feel shame if we’re not sacrificing, doing, achieving, doing more, rushing, connecting, overworking. The slower pace of COVID offered a unique opportunity to reflect on how time has been colonized for profit. According to modern science, time is not consistent—it actually moves differently in different places and time is not even the same in any particular place. Unpacking what we know about time from quantum physics and reflecting on our dominant narratives of time scarcity and mechanization, I offer another perspective on time and how we might begin to reclaim a sense of time fluidity. Slowing down, using gentle rest as resistance, and leaning into seasonality all play a role. I also reflect on my own stories of moving to remote learning during the pandemic, and on moving back and forth between outdoor learning and online learning.