The Italians and time
Time and status. I recently heard that in the U.S., people who have less time have higher status. In Italy, people who have more time have higher status. I have no idea if that's true (my Italian friends can tell me), but it did make me stop and think about what status means. The comment resonated. As someone who lives in the States, I do feel like I have to be an incredibly busy person in order to have any status.
Like many musicians, I've been taught and conditioned to strive for status through achievement and busyness:
Only when we achieve X, win Y, or become associated with Z, would we gain the status worthy of artistic respect and admiration. That artistic respect can often translate directly into personal respect due to the halo effect, which is why this status thing always feels so personal. And busyness is definitely a status symbol for us. "I know you must be so busy, but…" are words we all use when reaching out to someone of higher status than us.
Maybe our perception of status is warped? Maybe the Italians are onto something? What does it mean to have more time, and how does it equate to higher status?
More time means we have freedom. It means we have agency over that freedom - what we do, how we do it, when we do it, and most importantly, why we do it. We can choose to not do something because we don't see a reason. So when our time is usurped by obligations (even self-imposed ones), our sense of freedom declines. We feel less agency, less able to have purpose, less flexible and nimble.
When we have more time, we also have space. We have space to think, learn, practice, and improve in service of our craft. We have space to devote energy to help the people we lead. We have the time to focus on the important work and maximize the impact we can have.
Freedom and space can be status symbols, too. Few leaders get to have these things. We can strive to be this kind of leader.
I often yearn to hear the superficial words, "I know you must be so busy" simply because it denotes status. The truth is: I don't want to be "so busy", because it never feels great. I want to be "so free." I want to hear the words, "You are lucky to have so much time."
I want to protect my time to honor the art I make and the people I lead.
How might you want to create more time this year to have more freedom and space?
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