Time As Money
Movie review
By Dr. Edgar Cahn and Dr. Christine Gray
In the way that an incoming tide has an irresistible force, Time As Money is a powerful film. Moment by moment, scene by scene, it creeps up on the viewer. Past the point of no return, you realize that you have been drawn into something unexpected and different. By showing TimeBankers in action and by enlisting TimeBank members to explain what TimeBanking means to them, the film defines and redefines TimeBanking. Each time a little differently. Each time with a new perspective.
The film celebrates the wealth of community, illustrates how TimeBanking revives the tradition of barn raising and captures some of the creative ways in which TimeBanking has been used to birth Repair Cafes, team projects, and ecosystem renewal initiatives. We get to see how individuals who did not think of themselves as leaders became founders and catalysts when they took the idea of TimeBanking and put the core values into practice.
All the representations of TimeBanking share this one thing: they describe actions and events that are ordinary and understandable; but for anyone not yet familiar with how TimeBanking works, these things hang together in unexpected and disconcerting ways. By the end, a vision of society has materialized before us that is familiar, but also different. It’s as if all the furniture in a room has been lovingly rearranged in the service of recapturing a sense of community that collectively we yearn for, but which seems to be disappearing before our eyes like the smile of the Cheshire cat.
In short, this film is a kind of immersion experience – an immensely rich immersion experience - that takes time to reveal itself as that. We see how TimeBanking bridges and celebrates diversity. We hear how TimeBanking can play a special role in hard times and enable people to deal with personal setbacks. But the film also captures an emergent quality: the joy, the exuberant energy and a culture of trust, affection and sharing that knits together a new sense of community.
This is a wonderful film for a TimeBank to host, especially if the audience includes some who are familiar with TimeBanking and others who are not. In a world of instant gratification, quick fixes and a drive for efficiency, this richly layered tapestry calls out for shared reflection by audience members.
So, a suggestion: combine it with a potluck; use it as an occasion to explore together what TimeBanking means to the people in the room; consider offering hours for that reflection. And relish the prospect of all the giving and receiving that will take place. It will be a win-win for all.