The lives of extremely busy people are dominated by the clock. And their adherence to time can invariably lead to entrapment and anxiety.

 

During the press launch of the new Hermes Arceau Time Suspended watch at New World Hotel, guests were asked their choices if they were entrapped in time.

 

But the guests insisted they refused to be enslaved by clock time. They said they live more completely within the moment by connecting to their inner selves while keeping in harmony with the world outside. They try to attune themselves to their body clock and to the natural cycles of life.

 

Businessman Arwin Archie Alan Simtoco and his fiancée Jazzlyn Ona have been dating for six years. Their idea of time isn’t measured by the hour.

 

“Time for me is lonely without her,” Simtoco said. “Spending time together is what makes me alive. When I wake up in the morning, we meet for breakfast. I’m on the go and I get motivated. We don’t look at the watches. It’s lunchtime so I prepare at 11:30 a.m.; be ready by 12 noon and out by 12:30 p.m. We don’t say it’s 2:30 p.m. but it’s gym time. We are together until juice dinner, until we separate and go back to each other’s world.”

 

Ona gave up her preschool career at Montessori to assist Simtoco, the marketing and purchasing manager of his family business, Electro Parts Development Corp., a supplier of car

stereos and headlights.

 

They don’t let the clock and calendar time feed their minds like some kind of demon or ghost of anxiety. Thus, they are not rushing to get married.

 

“We want to be fully prepared,” said Ona, who added they might get married in 2015.

 

Meanwhile, lifestyle blogger Grace Barbers Baja measures time by her priorities.

 

“It’s a matter of balancing time for the family and the self,” she said.

 

The day is filled with responsibilities of looking after the children and being a dutiful wife. Still, she finds time for regular exercise—advance bodybuilding workout at that—and writing a lifestyle blog.

 

Husband-and-wife team Ciros and Rafaelita “Marilen” Tomacruz perceive time as a succession of accomplishments in their personal and professional life. In the day, they  are business partners who handle their plastic cards business, supplying banks and credit-card companies. Outside of work, they are a couple who have been in love for 26 years and can’t live without each other.

 

“We work from 8 to 5, but I would rather spend more quality time with my wife,” said Ciros.

 

Marilen waxed sentimental. “I would like to relive the time I met him, the development of our friendship, the time I gave birth to our son and all the events that matter to me the most.”

 

Entrepreneur Ma. Lourdes Martinez and her daughter, Marice, a weather news anchor on Aksyon TV, perceive time as a vehicle for fulfillment, a valuable step in working toward harmony and balance in their lives.

 

Outside of work, the Martinezes do everything together such as zumba, ballroom dancing,  walking their dogs and shopping.

 

When Marice is on TV, her mother watches. She later gives her daughter feedback on delivery and style.

 

Marice added, “After a tough day, I tell my mom everything. She keeps me sane.”

 

Time-trapped

 

So what would they do if they were trapped in time?

 

Simtoco replied he would prepare a five-course dinner for Ona and savor every moment of her company.

 

The Tomacruzes would like to enjoy doing the things they’ve never done before or take long walks in an idyllic setting.

 

Baja would like to keep her three children—ages 10, 6 and 3—in their childhood. “Alessi, my three-year-old, wants to come with me wherever we go,” said Baja. “I feel that connection. She is close to dad and brothers. When she’s with them, she’s like one of the boys. When she is with me, she likes to borrow my lipstick.”

 

“I want to keep them the way they are,” she added. “I don’t want them to grow as fast. When everything is going well, you want time to be at a standstill.”

 

Marice Martinez said she wanted  to enjoy her mother’s nurturing company and continue doing things together.

 

Her mother Lourdes wanted to go beyond physical time. “I want to live long.”

 

As the adage goes, “The way to wholeness is to kiss the moment as it flies.”

 

PHOTOS BY ALANAH TORRALBA