Time Flies
When I first retired we took a number of classes at Sonoma State University, in a program called Lifelong Learning. This was mostly for seniors, and was taught by top professors from the school and elsewhere. I especially enjoyed classes on religion, taught by a brilliant and liberal professor, one of the smartest people I had yet encountered. He let us know that an upcoming class, The Study of Time, was to be taught by his boss, who he claimed was really smart. Being of scientific bent I signed up for his class.
It was very interesting, but after the 10 sessions we all were just as much in the dark as before, but with better terminology. Time is pretty indescribable, but at least we know it flows differently depending on speed or gravity or something like that. The best description is that time is nature’s way of keeping everything from happening all at once. Another bit of wisdom is: Time flies like an arrow, but fruit flies like a banana.
Everyone is familiar with time or the perception of time speeding up as one ages. Christmas takes forever to arrive. The school year drags...till summer vacation, which zooms by. I have been experiencing this especially lately. I worked at the post office for 19 years. It seemed like a pretty long time. Now I realize I’ve been retired for 19 years. I feel like I’m just getting used to actually being retired. Zoom.
Others are concerned about the too quick passage of time.
7 Ways to Slow Down Your Perception of Time
You can't stop time — but you can make it seem like it's slowing down
How to Slow Down Time
Lots of good ideas in those and many other articles. I have been aware of the power of routines. These help one to have an ordered life. But stepping out of routines is the common thread of advice for slowing down the perception of the passage of time.
Are any of you KTK readers concerned about what I have referenced above? Am I just worried because I’m so close to, well, the end? What are your techniques for slowing down time? Are there times when you wish to speed it up?
My best method lately is to get in line at the Dollar Store. Because things only cost $1, people get in a zone (which is their marketing technique) and buy 50 things! As the clerk tallies them all up “please wrap each glass in newspaper”, time actually comes to a dead stop. Problem solved.
As always, this is an open thread, especially for those who don’t have time to discuss time. It’s KTK, so you could discuss thyme.