Clocks in Suisse: A Swiss obsession with Time

Clocks. Clocks. Clocks everywhere. Clocks downtown Basel. Clocks uptown Zürich. Clocks aside Lake Lucerne. Clocks in central capital Bern. Clocks in Old Town Geneva. Clocks along the steep roads of Thun. Clocks along the train up to Jungfrau, passing Grindelward and Interlakken. Clocks in the middle of a field in Meiringen and the hamlet of Gletsch.

Every 30 minutes, a church bell rings. Every single 30 minutes. Swiss commitment with time took it to another level. No longer a commercial deal with the elite obsessed over luxurious jewelry. The time obsession is something else – something I yet have to explore in the many coming trips to the land of Suisse.

Time does run slow here. Or fast. Or neither. Depends on where you are in your own adventure. It’s the Goldilocks of time – no slower no faster. Just what time it is.

I caught a rare glimpse of digital countdown timer which showed how much we have for the rest of 2020 in some railway station in the heart of Lucerne. Yes, I felt the need to even show more gratitude towards the time I still have on earth. Yet no, I felt the need to not disrespect the present by focusing too much energy on the future and what has not even happened yet.

It sounds tacky but the fact that clocks and the concept of time are densely presented in the daily Swiss life gave me a light acknowledgement of:

• what I am doing,
• what I am not doing,
• what I can do,
• what I cannot possibly do thereby I shan’t try to exert my control over,
• and what I will do to make the most out of this very moment

At the age of 25, I have never been in this moment, being in the middle of Switzerland breathing in that air and cheekily smiling amidst the hot summer breeze. And I will never be in the same moment again. Ever again. Maybe I’ll be back in Switzerland this year, but I won’t have the same knowledge, the same physique, the same emotions, the same appreciation for life. I can only hope I will have some of these more than the present.

I possess one of the most priceless yet countable assets of human life – time. I have time.

Therefore, I am the richest person in my life. Every moment passed, I am losing a little of my assets.