What Time Is It?

Ah yes, the glorious confusion of the end of Daylight Saving Time. The moment we all agree to pretend an hour just fell out of the sky like a forgotten coupon for rest we’ve been too busy to redeem.

The clocks roll back, the sun clocks out early, and suddenly it’s dark by 4:30 p.m., which feels both criminal and somehow like divine permission.

This is the one week of the year when society accidentally aligns with your nervous system’s deepest desire: to be home early, in fleece pants, eating soup. No one questions your early bedtime. No one expects you to squeeze one more thing in. The darkness says, go ahead, power down. It’s the universe’s way of saying you’ve done enough.

If you’re like most high achievers, you probably have a complicated relationship with enough.

You know the feeling. You’re sitting there thinking it’s too early to rest, while the sky outside looks like midnight and your body whispers that it’s perfect.

So this week, maybe don’t fight it. Blame it on the clocks. Let the time change be your scapegoat for softening your pace.

“I’d love to, but it’s dark.”

“Sorry, I can’t, my circadian rhythm says no.”

“It’s 5:30 and my body thinks it’s 10:00.”

All valid excuses. Use liberally.

And beneath the humor, there’s something deeper happening, something a recent article in The New York Times recently described with the word kairos.

Those fleeting, sacred moments that exist outside the clock and calendar. Kairos is when you’re sitting in your kitchen, the light slanting through the window just right, and time seems to loosen its grip. It’s when you pause long enough to actually feel your own life.

So what if this darker season isn’t a punishment but an invitation? A collective kairos moment to rest, recalibrate, and reconnect with a rhythm that isn’t dictated by productivity apps or project deadlines.

Because the truth is, your body doesn’t care what your calendar says. It cares about light and dark, stress and recovery, expansion and contraction.

And as the days shorten, your biology is whispering something important: slow down, draw inward, recharge.

So go ahead, light a candle, put on your coziest socks, and declare 6 PM the new 9 PM. Let this be your annual permission slip to rest without guilt.