The matter of time and the dead bear

The world is moving too fast - or, put better - the world we have made is making us move too fast ... and the collateral damage amounts to countless fatalities.

I know this and you, whether consciously or subconsciously, know it, too. We have created a world that has come - and keeps coming - with an endless stream of new technologies to make things easier, more comfortable, more convenient for us. Industry has come up with invention after invention from the train to the plane the smart phone - and all of it with the promise to make things more efficient, faster, effortless.

But what about those promises? Surely things are efficient, fast and effortless today ... but are we less stressed, and do we have - or feel that we have - more time? Of course not. Stress levels have never been higher. And when we're in our latest edition wonderful car and need to get from A to B then what's the point of having it if you can't step on the gas? After all, those roads, too, have been put there and augmented so that we can go faster and get there - wherever there is - faster.

BAM!

Push it and you'll be there five minutes faster ... all the while you're driving/racing there your stress/anxiety levels rise and the whole trip ends up being far from the enjoyable time it could have been. So you're racing through wonderful nature, forest to the left and right and suddenly - BAM! What was that? Oh, who knows - some big furry animal that was propelled out of sight. Well, it's gone. The car's dented - damn that animal. You drive on ...

That's essentially the story of the death last month of a twenty-year old Marsican bear in Italy's Apennine mountain range. It was tagged and so the rangers could see, from its erratic behavior, that something had happened to it at the Sora-Avezzano highway. It had taken shelter first - then moved about again - and its health seemed to worsen. Park rangers and police then decided to sedate the bear - but it was dead before it could be helped.

Rewilding Apennines writes, "A Marsican brown bear died after being run down on the night of 13 August on the Sora-Avezzano speedway, at the height of Canistro (AQ), an ecological corridor area. The animal, which was initially alive and had taken refuge in a bush, was monitored by the park rangers of the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park and the Carabinieri Forestali. Despite the first encouraging signs, his condition worsened, leading to the bear's death. The autopsy revealed very serious fractures and a lethal haemothorax."

Rewilding Apennines goes on to recommend "altruism on the roads." What they're simply advocating for is a concern for the world around you. They rightly explain that those highways slice through regions that are home to many animals. But the road's there, and the car's humming - so why would you slow down? Also, time! You need to get somewhere and the speed limit's set and so you're doing all you're supposed to be doing. But just imagine slowing down a bit, driving with a sense of awareness, of consideration, for the world around you.

Rewilding Apennines writes, "... we must remember that we are not alone in our cars and that at any moment an animal could appear crossing, with serious consequences for ourselves and the wildlife. Driving carefully is the best act each of us can do to reduce the risk of accidents with wildlife."

Slowing down

Frankly, I love speed limits - there, I said it. I started by saying that the world is moving too fast and that is my firm conviction. It does us no good. It does our species no good - and the rest of nature is collateral damage to all of everything we sacrifice at the altar of efficiency, comfort and convenience. We need more speed limits. There is no reason for the existence of any public road anywhere in the world without speed limits (here's looking at you, Germany). We, our species, for our own good and for that bear and for every other marvelous creature that ends up designated with that hideous 'road kill' term, we need to slow down.

If it were up to little ole draconian me, you'd all be driving at lower speeds everywhere. Far too much of what we do continues to see the consequences to nature as an unfortunate by-product. Just imagine if the world were to slow down across the board (I'd have ideas for everything from flight plans to Amazon Prime and smart phone use), we might actually take the time to smell the roses, to appreciate the world around us, to be mindful of that beetle or snail at our feet ... to not run over that bear.

Draconian me would hand down new rules ... but just wistful musing, of course. So allow me to turn it around. With everything we have and can have and can do ever so efficiently today, we find ourselves saying more and more often that we'd love to, but that we just don't have the time. The time's the culprit, not us. We are simply victims. The reality, of course, is a different one: the reality is that we do have choice on our side.

You do have the time

"I don't have the time," is a throwaway line we use umpteen times. We say it with an apologetic smile to our children, we say it with an annoyed frown to the dog and that frustrating wagging tail of his, we say it with a helpless shrug to our partner - we don't have time. We'd really love to, but we just don't have the time. But the simple fact is that we do have the time. Time is just what it is, it is there for us?to choose what we do with it. Time is as patient, as peaceful, or as frantic as we make it.

Every time we utter "I don't have time" - it is an excuse (at the very least it's a deflection to avoid an argument). Because, let's face it - it's never that we don't have the time, it's simply that we choose not to take the time to do something.?Admittedly - we can't do everything and so we prioritize - we choose to do certain things and choose to not do certain other things. We give some things more importance over other things... and that's just fine as long as we're clear on what we're doing.

When you?catch yourself saying the ever convenient "I don't have the time" ... then pause, reflect and rephrase it?to "Actually, I won't take the time". When you rephrase it, you'll be far more honest with yourself and your opposite ...?and, I'd venture to say that, when you look your opposite in the eye, readying to say "I won't take the time" (to listen to you,?to talk to you, to play with you...) - you just may find yourself making time.