Island time

Piliura, Pele Island - photo by Karyn Sippel 

Much is said & joked about island time in reference to the laid back, chilled approach islanders take to schedules & time. Much of it is true. Some of it is good and some not.

I did not wear a watch in Vanuatu. I didn't even take one.

Having my iPhone battery go flat after a day with no electricity to charge it, also meant that mode of time keeping was gone too. After a few days of adjusting to not even needing to know the time, except for mornings where an alarm was needed to wake us, it felt incredibly liberating to not be so bound to time keeping as we are here at home.

This struck me most when leaving the shopping centre car park yesterday experiencing a mini traffic jam, I felt myself starting to get annoyed. Annoyed that I had to wait.

Instantly I was taken back to the many hours of waiting we did in Vanuatu.

At the airport for a Dr who turned up a whole day late due to his flight being redirected back to Brisbane. Waiting for team members to turn up for events, {an hour late by our terms, accepatable & usual for island time}. Waiting for transport, either taxi, mini bus or banana boat, some that came, some didn't. Waiting for food to be prepared. Waiting for the pigs to cook island, rotisserie style, taking hours longer than expected. There was much activity, but there was also much waiting.

It was actually relaxing to wait in Vanuatu.

Not so once back home. The demand of the clock, the pull push of schedules, meetings and of having to be exactly on time clicks in almost instantly in our productive, consumer driven culture. Planes, trains & taxis wait for no one here!

How do we blend the two?

I can't be late for meetings here and claim, island time. That would get me sacked!

But I can take the patience learnt in the islands waiting into my day to day, so that little things like car pack traffic jams don't unnecessarily annoy me! Slow down, take a few breaths, it's ok not to rush. It's good to wait. Be patient. 

Patience is a good lesson learnt from island time.

I also learnt that too much island time can lead to inertia and demotivation. We saw this with many unfinished projects in the village. Too much island time sometimes leads to not much getting done. An unfinished church after several years, a medical clinic to build with ground work not completed in time for our team to lay a slab. Some of that is good, some is not.

Much patience is required.

Putting our western schedules into an island culture just doesn't work. So taking the good from island time and brining it into our western schedules just might. I am having fun trying.

Cherishing lessons learnt

Cherishing the delicate art of patience

Cherishing weaving island time into western schedules