Life knows time better than the sun knows summer. When we are born not only are we given the gift of blood, skin, working organs, and vitals that our bodies need to survive, but we are receiving precious time. Life is created in the womb, whether it was fate or science that created you, you are alive. From the time of birth to the time of death, your existence is controlled by time.

It’s quite a bizarre thing if you think about it. Time isn’t only the allotted twenty four hours in a day in which we attempt to meet the high standard of society that are so high not even society cannot achieve them. But time is also where moments so small they can be held in our hand are created. It’s not often that you get to share the same time with someone from such a different time. Joyce Birch grew up in Bloomfield, New Jersey in the 1950s, a very different time the the one I’m growing up in today. Fortunately, through my discussions with Joyce, I have been able to experience a new time zone packed with social movements pushing for equality, women's rights, a stop to segregation along with various wars like the Vietnam war and Cold war.

It’s a very special experience for me to share my outlook on life with others and to hear theirs as well. I took the concept of time and made it irrelevant even if just for a moment as I crossed the threshold between now and then. As I experienced the world Joyce grew up in through her stories and ideas, I came to appreciate the differences and similarities in our thinking. Being challenged to think differently is something that excites me. Speaking with Joyce, I acquired an insight on a variety of topics and together we shared out ideas about them. Her candor in our discussions is something I sincerely admire. In my experience, people do not speak their mind for they let the opinions and judgments of others cloud their thinking and what ends up being said is muckier than a bog. It’s people like Joyce who hold a certain appeal because of their composure. She inspired me to become confident in myself and to believe in the value of my voice by not letting others soil it’s purity. However, do not mistake this with cockiness. When I asked Joyce what she thought the most important thing for her to do for herself was, she replied “the most important thing to do for myself when I’m down, is to be other centered. It always takes away the gloom of a mood”. I find this perspective incredibly insightful yet wildly challenging. The manner in which Joyce conducts herself is truly respectable and she possesses the ability to be more conscious of others, a way of being I hope to achieve.

Going forward in my life, I will always remember the thoughtful things Joyce told me. I need to be an advocate for what I think is right, like she was during the Feminist Movement. In this time women were newly empowered to go out into the world and become part of the work force. Although many women jumped at the chance to leave home and pursue their goals, Joyce was thinking of more than just herself. Her decision to continue to be a stay at home mom with her two girls was something she felt strongly about doing. When almost every child in America then had two parents working full time jobs, Joyce became a second mother to the children in the neighborhood who became latch key kids during this time of liberation. While keeping others in mind, Joyce did what was best for her as well. You only have children once in your life time, and with that she decided to embrace them and look into the future to all the other opportunities she would have to fulfill any desire to be part of the work force.

The most meaningful thing Joyce told me was something that she told her daughter when she came home from college mid way through the year, “what ever you do, the choice of vocation should make you eager to get up in the morning and look forward to going to work“. As a young adult being feed the same script about what life should be like after school I value this statement. After I finish high school whether I go straight to college or take a year off, when and if I decide to specialize in something there is no doubt that Joyce’s voice will come to mind telling me this. Assuming that I’m going to spend a great portion of my life specializing in something, it’s going to be something I enjoy and look forward to doing. I imagine that Joyce gave this advice to her daughter with confidence because I think it’s something she followed throughout her life as well.

Even though I only met with Joyce on four occasions and for brief amounts of time, I am eager to continue to grow our relationship and hear more about how she sees the world. After all, time may control our existence but it does not interfere with what time periods we experience through others.