{"id":6320,"date":"2025-07-08T17:53:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T17:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meadows.today\/?p=6320"},"modified":"2026-04-07T03:31:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T03:31:37","slug":"the-clock-and-the-moment-when-to-push-pause-pivot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadows.today\/pt\/the-clock-and-the-moment-when-to-push-pause-pivot\/","title":{"rendered":"The Clock and the Moment: When to Push, Pause, or Pivot"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Clock and the Moment: When to Push, Pause, or Pivot<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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Let\u2019s take work, for example.<\/p>\n

Though family relationships, friendships, hobbies, or travelling are all fertile soils for training our sense of timing.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How many of us have been in situations where we pushed a project through when it was not ready, we delayed a task and missed the wave, or we made a change for the change\u2019s sake, creating a mess when the situation required more consistency and practice? <\/span><\/p>\n

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In our fast-paced world of modern work and life, it becomes obvious that timing isn\u2019t just about meeting deadlines, raising the numbers, scaling up, or improving performance\u2014it\u2019s about reading the moment. <\/span><\/p>\n

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If we are to move forward in a life-giving, nature-harmonious way, we need to develop an understanding that every decision has its time, and that knowing <\/span>when<\/em> to act is as important as <\/span>how<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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When I decided to leave Romania, the hour didn\u00b4t seem ideal. <\/span><\/p>\n

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A pandemic has started to mess up the brain of the world. We had restraining orders for moving past the streets of our homes, we needed vaccination certificates to travel to other countries, and we were wiping the food packages with alcohol. It all seemed like a bad time. <\/span><\/p>\n

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But internally, I knew that weirdly enough\u2026 for me, it was an auspicious time. <\/span><\/p>\n

I was filled with excitement at being accepted into the Improvisation School in Canada. I could rely on some savings, and mostly I was ready to let go of the main project of my young years: Education Studio. <\/span><\/p>\n

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After almost 7 years of coordinating it, the place where I put my heart needed to go on without me, and I needed to find out who I was without it. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Something deeper than my fear and guilt told me that the biggest challenge now was to hold the grip tight, to be unable to detach and let the kid enter the school gates without me. The most insane thing now would not be to move to another country by myself without definite plans, but to ignore the voices of \u201cthe moment\u201d and stay with the measure of \u201cthe clock\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Moreover, I knew that I needed a new challenge, and if I didn\u2019t jump then, maybe I would never do it. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cTiming can be everything and wisdom requires the patience to wait as well as the courage to leap when the time becomes right.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\tMICHAEL MEADE<\/p>\n

Anthropologist, Mythologist, Founder of Mosaic Foundation<\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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Two types of timing <\/span><\/h2>\n

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This balance between the <\/span>clock<\/strong> and the <\/span>moment<\/strong>\u2014between structure and intuition\u2014seems like an essential skill to develop if we want to make sure there still is a planet for us and the next generations.<\/span><\/p>\n

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So what\u2019s the <\/span>clock? <\/strong>It\u2019s the world of schedules, metrics, and deliverables. It’s time we measure, plan, and organize. It keeps us accountable and keeps projects on track. It\u2019s what the Greeks call Chronos. <\/span><\/p>\n

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But the <\/span>moment<\/strong>, or what they call <\/span>kairos, is<\/strong> different. It’s the opportune, often unpredictable, time of sensing when something deeper is ready to shift. It\u2019s when a group is ripe for innovation, or when pushing forward would lead to burnout instead of a breakthrough.<\/span><\/p>\n

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As we move forward, we might notice we need both Chronos and Kairos in our lives. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Cultivating timing skills through improvisation<\/span><\/h3>\n

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In her book, Improvisation for the Theatre, Viola Spolin, the creator of theatre games, shares: <\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cTiming is perceiving (sensing); it is an organic response which cannot be taught by lecture. It is the ability to handle the multiple stimuli occurring within a setting. It is the host attuned to the individual needs of the many guests. It is the cook putting a dash of this and a flick of that into a stew. It is the children playing a game, alert to each other and to the environment around them. It is to know objective reality and to be free to respond to it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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During my studies with improvisation coach Aretha Sills, I grew sensitive to the moment when she introduced a new exercise. <\/span><\/p>\n

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It appeared to me that there was a lot of sensing involved. <\/span><\/p>\n

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A new exercises was not chosen because it was fun or because it could make for a special experience in the group (though most probably it did both). It was also not pushed aside because some players have done it already, but because I believe – she sensed it would be the right time for us, in this particular group, with these exact people, to try it out. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Timing in a Circle of Trust<\/span><\/h3>\n

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In my other foundational foundational experience, in the Circle of Trust retreats at the Center for Courage and Renewal, I remember that no talking sticks were passed from one participant to another. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Silence had a role in the group, and if anyone felt it was the moment to speak, they would break the silence, and they would stop when they felt. <\/span><\/p>\n

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The touchstone <\/span>\u201cEverything here is by invitation, not demand\u201d<\/em> made everyone free to express themselves and to be considerate of the space left for others. <\/span><\/p>\n

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In his book \u201cA Hidden Wholeness\u201d, Parker J Palmer, the founder of the Center, shares countless examples of people mentioning how happy they were that they were allowed to stay in silence for many sessions in a row when the sharing circle was opened. Because in that space I believed they found something they couldn’t find in any other areas of their life: they finally heard themselves, and got a sense of their inner timing. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cNature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

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LAO TZU<\/span><\/h5>\n
Philosopher, Writer from Ancient China, author of “Tao Te Ching”<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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So, how do we know when to <\/span>push<\/strong>, <\/span>pause<\/strong>, or <\/span>pivot<\/strong>? <\/span><\/p>\n

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In practice, this is a skill that cannot be taught, but can be cultivated. Like a path that appears under our feet through repeatedly walking on the empty field. <\/span><\/p>\n

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To start, we can watch out for some clues that indicate one path is more suitable than the other. We may want to consider:<\/span><\/p>\n

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