Opinion piece challenges Western fear of ageing by advocating for Kairos time
A July 2026 commentary contrasts the rigid Chronos model with Kairos, drawing on care work, seasonal rhythms, and Indigenous knowledge to reframe how society views ageing.
In an opinion piece published in The Guardian on 16 July 2026, Kelley Swain argues that Western culture’s anxiety regarding ageing is rooted in an over-reliance on Chronos, a linear conception of time that treats time as a commodity. Swain contends that this relentless chronological framework creates a pervasive fear of getting older, manifesting in anti-ageing propaganda and pursuits of eternal youth through hormonal treatments.
Swain advocates for adopting Kairos, an intuitive sense of time associated with opportunity and the "right moment." She describes Kairos as the natural flow found in care work, such as midwifery or nurturing a child, where actions are guided by intuition rather than the rigid demands of a clock. This approach is contrasted with the "chronos world," where care environments often struggle to align with mainstream chronological expectations.
The article highlights alternative timekeeping methods that reject standardised measures, such as daylight savings, which Swain describes as an outrage. Instead, she points to those who follow the moon or note the summer and winter solstices. These practices reflect a connection to the seasons and the "texture of time," illustrated by personal observations of compost-grown tomatoes ripening in winter fog and the specific quality of morning light.
Swain references the biblical verse, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens,” to support the idea of "right timing" linked to the wheel of seasons. She suggests that society, gripped by Chronos, risks becoming a group of "un-eldered youngsters" who view time as a thief rather than a spiral. Those aligned with Kairos, including those in palliative care or seasonal gardening, are positioned as resisting this unthinking march toward the edge of time.
Concluding the piece, Swain introduces insights from Tyson Yunkaporta, an Indigenous author and thinker from the Apalech clan in far north Queensland. Yunkaporta explains that his language lacks a word for non-linear time because travelling or thinking in a straight line is considered unnatural. He recounts an anecdote of a man who attempted to travel in a straight line thousands of years ago, was called "wamba" (crazy), and was punished by being thrown into the sky.