700,800 Hours

700,800 hours is how many hours we live in 80 years. Wow, that's all? Yes, that's all. Each semester that I taught community college English classes, I began the first class with this fact, and my students were always shocked. They thought they had at least a million hours or more. That's what I always thought too, until one day I did the math. We don't even get a million hours if we live to be 100!

But even the 700,800 hours is misleading because we spend one third of those hours sleeping and another third or so going to school, working, and taking care of everyday matters like eating and showering. So, at best, we probably have one third of our time, or approximately 233,600 hours, to do the things that define us, that make us who we are. That's not a lot of hours, is it?

Recently, I turned 60 and did not receive classes to teach from my community college due to budget cuts. I miss my students very much because I love intellectual interaction, the discussion of every topic under the sun from a variety of perspectives. I also realize that I have fewer than 58,000 hours until I'm 80 (if I live that long) to finish defining myself. So, what do I want to do with my remaining hours (besides read as many books as possible, of course)?  What I want to do is consider just about everything, share my thoughts, and hear yours, on the big questions of life and the not so big.

To that end, I welcome you to my brand new blog. Hope you enjoy it, and hope you will comment often.

Take care,

Kate

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