Become a Connoisseur of Time

We know we’re only here for a short time. So, we don’t really want to get more efficient at spending our time. And we don’t really want to cram it with more distractions. What we really want is to experience our lives in ever-richer ways. And that means getting off the clock. Here, a master outlines how to do just that. Here, a master oulines how to do just that. An interview with Joel Bennett, PhD

- By Stephen Kiesling

Let’s go back to the early days of Spirituality+Health. You sent me your first book, Time and Intimacy, and together we created a magazine feature. Then we met at the American Psychological Association convention in Honolulu…

And I called to ask where we should meet, and we were already standing in the same room.

That’s funny. I had forgotten that. What I remember is walking out on Waikiki Beach, where an odd set of connections enabled us to jump into an outrigger canoe with Nappy Napolean, probably the most experienced paddler in Hawaii. He was a master of those waves, and he got us on one, and we rode it for what must have been a quarter of a mile. It was magic! The magazine article we had published was called “Navigating Time.” That guy had us literally navigating time! So, here’s my question. How seriously should we take synchronicities?

That’s a tough question. Synchronicity is one of what I call the four Soulful Capacities: Acceptance, Presence, Flow, and Synchronicity. I believe that the most meaningful, purposeful, and pivotal points in a person’s life happen around these four capacities. The first three are well-explored by both religious traditions and by science. We basically know what they mean. Synchronicity, however, is the most difficult to grasp. People have a hard time believing that you can cultivate synchronicity—that it’s a skill.