Time Bank

Thirteen years ago, I wrote this in my journal:

I was thinking of time, as of late. There is an expression to spend time. Unfortunately, that happens to make no sense. It's as if you didn't spend that time, you could save it somehow? Like some sort of banking system where you could invest your time and spend it all at will or save it. As if you aren't always spending time, every moment.

I guess now I think of this expression more in terms of how we equate time to money. And how time is just as valuable as money. And if we can decide to use it as we will, the question becomes "Will I regret how I spend it?" Because once it's gone, it's gone. I do really like the idea of storing our time somehow, saving it for a day when we just need more of it. Maybe I'll figure it out and open the First International Time Bank.

More to the point, I find it curious how much value we place on these two things - time and money - and how they are both completely arbitrary constructs that we have created. Think about the words we use for both of them: spend, save, waste. Is there any difference?