When you make a collage, you make it. You make a picture from pictures. You cut out pictures, and, spontaneously, you paste the pictures this way or that. How long does it take? Not long. It takes only the doing. How freeing it is. You do not announce: "This collage will be done at midnight on Friday." You say, "I am making a collage." And that is all you know. You are making a collage.
When you make a collage, do not set boundaries for yourself. Time is a boundary. Life in the world of time holds you to itself. Time makes its demands. The airplane is leaving at a specified time, and you have to be there an hour or two early.
You even set alarm clocks so you will wake up in time to get to work on time. It is even time to watch your favorite program, and if you want to see a movie, it starts at a certain time. Even for pleasure, time holds you in its thrall in the world that time etches.
It's true. Life is forever, and you are making your collage. Every day in world life you are contributing to your collage. Your daily collages, when put together, will have great proportions. You don't have forever in the world, yet you need not apply time limits to yourself as you would handcuffs to a prisoner. As much as you can, get out of the yoke of time.
If you must assign yourself a time limit for aspects of the collage you are making, assign it to yourself, but do not make a promise. When you announce to the world, "This part of my collage will be done Friday," you have made a pledge. As much as possible, do not make pledges to the world, or, if you do, make sure you keep them.
If you say to your child, "This Saturday we will go to the fair," then go to the fair this Saturday. If something comes up that interferes, and you cannot take your child to the fair on Saturday, he is let down. Even if you can go Sunday, you have changed the guidelines midstream. You made a switch. No matter how necessary, you made a switch. It is like your car skipping a gear.
In the world when one thing is said and another delivered deliberately, this is called bait and switch. When this is not done purposely, it is called life. It is called, "So be it." It is called, "Sorry, kid, we can't go Saturday. We'll go Sunday."
Better not to make a time commitment when life has its way of interfering. Better to say: "We'll go to the fair as soon as we can. I'm thinking this Saturday or Sunday." Then, if it is Sunday, no one is disappointed. Then you haven't disappointed yourself.
Appoint yourself to give yourself the leeway you need. Do not squeeze yourself, beloveds. Often it seems like life is a race, yet you don't have to run a two-minute mile. There is no need to set limits that you cannot always attain.
If you say to your wife, "Dear, I'll get the trash out," get the trash out, and be done with it.
You don't have to impose time limits on yourself. The world is hard enough on you. Don't be hard on yourself. You don't have to make promises. If you must make promises, then make only promises you can keep. Even with yourself. Let Us shake hands on it.