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Time holds wisdom
Watch your moments
Act right away
-安天美
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Time flows through our lives not as a single current but as countless streams, each with its own rhythm and purpose. The Yoruba understanding of àkókò and àsìkò reveals this multidimensional nature that English often flattens into a relentless forward march. When we hear "time holds wisdom," we recognise that different moments carry different messages. Some urge immediate response, others counsel patience.
Our ancestors understood this intimacy with time's many voices. They read seasons through land changes, understood celestial movements as meaningful transitions. Their time was alive, conversational, relational. Meanwhile, we've reduced ours to notification pings and productivity metrics, missing the dialogue that once guided human lives.
Imagine reclaiming this relationship with time. A job opportunity that feels rushed might actually benefit from careful consideration. A creative project struggling to take form might simply need the space to gestate. Time's wisdom teaches discernment, revealing when to move swiftly and when to allow things their natural pace.
"Watch your moments" invites us to become fluent in time's subtle communications. The gut feeling before making a decision, the sudden clarity while walking alone, the resonant silence in conversation, all speak a language beyond words. Young musicians understand this when they feel rather than count the beat, knowing instinctively when to enter the song.
The Yoruba concept of àsìkò honours how developments follow their organic timing. The fruit ripens when conditions align, not when we demand it. The child walks when body and mind are ready, not when the calendar suggests.
This language requires a different kind of attention than our notification-trained minds typically offer. It asks us to inhabit each moment fully rather than mentally racing to the next. A twenty-second interaction with a stranger might change your path more significantly than hours of planned networking, if only you're present enough to recognise its message.
Like water flowing downhill, effective action follows the natural contours of circumstance. It doesn't fight against the reality of the moment but dances with it, discovering openings that rigid planning might miss.
Yoruba wisdom distinguishes between àkókò (this exact moment) and àsìkò (the appointed season). Both deserve respect. The entrepreneur who launches quickly when opportunity appears demonstrates one kind of timing wisdom. The artist who allows ideas to compost before expression honours another. Sometimes we must respond instantly to crisis or opportunity. Other times, we must plant seeds and wait, understanding that forcing growth only produces weak results. The wisdom lies in discerning which time we're in.
This dance becomes particularly important in our digital age where "instant" response is often valorised above thoughtful engagement. True responsiveness isn't about speed but about alignment. When we act from this aligned place, even waiting becomes a form of action, even pause becomes purposeful presence. It's the farmer who knows when to plant, when to water, when to harvest. When action finds its way in harmony with time's wisdom, effort becomes grace. You get to meet each moment with appropriate energy.
Our fragmented understanding of time creates unnecessary suffering. We blame ourselves for delays that might be necessary incubations. We rush actions that require ripening. We miss opportunities because we're looking at the clock instead of reading the moment. Healing this relationship with time begins with recognising its wholeness.
Time exists beyond our attempts to commodify it. It's the medium through which life expresses itself with flows as varied as ocean tides and heartbeats, seasonal changes and generational shifts. Each culture's understanding of time reveals different facets of this wholeness. The Yoruba concepts of àkókò and àsìkò offer windows into this wholeness, reminding us that time has both immediate presence and destined unfolding.
In this understanding, "no delay" transforms from pressure into permission. There is no such thing as being behind when you're aligned with time's intelligence. There is only the beautiful, complex choreography of life unfolding through you, with you, as you. Each moment arriving precisely with its own perfect timing.
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<aside> <img src="/icons/backward_blue.svg" alt="/icons/backward_blue.svg" width="40px" /> Earth's Classroom | Ikole Ayé
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<aside> <img src="/icons/forward_blue.svg" alt="/icons/forward_blue.svg" width="40px" /> Perfect Timing
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