Evan Carmichael explains Robert Greene's concept of alive time versus dead time, using Francis Scott Key, Viktor Frankl, and Walt Disney as examples of people who turned forced inactivity into breakthroughs. The shift requires reframing setbacks and waiting periods as opportunities for learning and action rather than wasted moments.
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Alive time or dead time? According to Robert Greene, there are two types of time in our lives: dead time, where people are passive and waiting, and alive time, when people are learning and acting and utilizing every second. Every moment of failure, every moment or situation that we did not deliberately choose or control presents this choice: alive time, dead time. Dead time. Which will it be? Francis Scott Key wrote the poem that became the national anthem of the United States while trapped on a ship during a prisoner exchange in the War of 1812. Viktor Frankl refined his psychology of meaning and suffering during his ordeal in 3 Nazi concentration camps. Walter Scott's first great poem was written while recovering from being kicked by a horse. Walt Disney made his decision to become a cartoonist while laid up after stepping on a rusty nail. Yes, it would feel much better in the moment to be angry, to be aggrieved, to be depressed or heartbroken. When injustice or unfairness or the capriciousness of fate are inflicted on someone, the normal reaction is to yell, to fight back, to resist. But what if we said, "This is an opportunity for me." I am using it for my purposes. I will not let this be dead time for me. The dead time was when we were controlled by ego. Now, now we can live. Who knows what you're currently doing? Hopefully it's not a prison term, even if it might feel like it. Maybe you're sitting in a remedial high school class. Maybe you're on hold. Maybe it's a trial separation. Maybe you're making smoothies as you save up money. Maybe you're stuck waiting out a contract or tour of duty. Maybe the situation is one totally of your own making, or perhaps it's just bad luck. In life, we all get stuck with some dead time. It isn't in our control, except that it is. As Booker T. Washington most famously put it, "Cast down your bucket where you are." Make use of what you face. Don't let stubbornness and ignorance make a bad situation worse. Don't waste this. No matter how appealing it happens to be, you don't get very much time. Alive time or dead time.
