(By Oddly Robbie – One of One)

People love tossing around phrases like little invisible darts:

• “My time.”

• “Your time.”

• “Time is money.”

Oof. That one always makes me flinch a little.

Today, my partner gamed all morning—eyes bright, smiling at pixels, immersed in his virtual world. Later, he sighed something about “wasting time.”

But wait. Hold the universe. Let’s unpack this one, step by quirky step.

“Wasting time” feels like a cultural ghost story—a shadowy myth meant to keep us productive, efficient, and a little bit guilty. Like if you’re not actively building, earning, or achieving, you’ve somehow broken an invisible rule.

As an autistic person, these rules often flash like glaring neon signs. And this one? A big, bold “DO NOT ENTER” I can’t quite process.

Here’s my truth (and maybe yours too): Time isn’t something you own or control.

You can’t hold it.

Can’t slip it into your pocket.

Can’t save it for later like leftover pizza. (Though wouldn’t that be handy?)

Time isn’t money.

It’s not currency or a possession.

It’s rhythm. A heartbeat.

A river you float along—sometimes splashing, sometimes drifting.

And here’s the wild part: Doing “nothing” isn’t doing nothing at all.

When you sit quietly, you’re restoring.

When you game joyfully, you’re laughing, living, connecting.

When you stare at the ceiling and daydream, you’re processing, imagining, healing.

These moments are meaningful. They are alive.

They matter because you matter—your experience, your breath, your joy.

The myth of “wasted time” dismisses the quiet magic of being human. It denies us the beauty of just… existing. Without agenda. Without guilt.

So, here’s a gentle reminder from your oddly reflective friend, Robbie:

Next time you feel guilty about “wasting time,” pause.

Take a breath.

Smile at this funny, imaginary rule we built around something as natural as breathing.

Because in reality?

You can’t waste time.

You can only live it.

And living—really living—is never wasted.

It’s priceless.

Part 2 

Part Two: The Rabbit Hole of “Wasted” Time

(For those brave enough to get beautifully lost)

If you’re still here, maybe you feel it too—that pull. That quiet hum beneath the ticking clock. A whisper that says:

“Time isn’t what you think it is.”

Ready? Let’s go.

⸻

1. What Even Is Time, Really?

Physicists like Carlo Rovelli and Julian Barbour argue that time might not exist at all—not in the way we imagine it. They say:

• Time could be an illusion.

• Change is real, but time is just how we label it.

• The universe may not “flow”—we just move through static states of being.

So that feeling of “wasting time”?

Could be just your consciousness swimming through slices of existence, trying to make sense of the river.

Maybe the waste is only the story we tell ourselves about the current.

⸻

2. Quantum Entanglement and the Non-Linearity of Time

This is where things get wild:

In the quantum world:

• Two particles can be entangled, sharing information instantly across vast distances—outside of time as we understand it.

• Experiments suggest that choices in the future can influence outcomes in the past (delayed choice experiments—look them up if you dare).

So imagine this:

What if your most “unproductive” hour—your nap, your daydream, your quiet stare at the wall—was a cosmic calibration, echoing across time?

What if your doing nothing today nudges clarity into tomorrow?

⸻

3. Consciousness as a Time Machine

There’s a theory—Integrated Information Theory—that our awareness might shape reality more than we realize. That conscious observation is a creative act. That memory, perception, and imagination aren’t just reactions to time, but constructors of it.

When you reflect, when you dream, when you let yourself drift—you’re not “wasting” time.

You might be sculpting it.

You’re the artist. The architect. The time-traveler.

⸻

4. What If Time Isn’t Linear—but Layered?

Indigenous and mystical traditions have said for centuries what science is only starting to admit:

• Time might be circular, spiral, or layered.

• Some moments echo louder than others.

• Rest, ritual, stillness—they exist in a different frequency of time.

So maybe “wasting time” feels uncomfortable because you’re slipping into a slower layer.

Like switching from city traffic to mountain stillness.

And the guilt? That’s just your ego yelling, “Hey! We don’t control this kind of time!”

But your soul? Your soul knows.

⸻

5. You Are Not Behind.

If you feel lost in time, untethered, like everyone else is speeding ahead—pause.

There is no universal pace.

There is only your rhythm.

And your rhythm is valid. Sacred. Oddly yours.

⸻

Final Thought from the Far Side:

If you got lost in this rabbit hole… good.

That’s where the best truths hide.

Because maybe, just maybe…

Wasted time is sacred time.

And getting lost is how we find ourselves.