Monthly Archives: April 2015

Tempus fugit…

Time is the master of us all. Time brings an inescapable order to our perception of reality. None can escape it.
There are some view points in physics, who define time as an illusion of human consciousness, ingrained as an artifice of our elemental model of experience. However, given the laws of entropy, time is observed to flow in only in one direction. To me, it does appear to be in the structure of our reality. But then, all of these might be subject to our limited models of perception and knowledge.
Based on our state of attention and excitation, clock time appears to be experienced at different rates. It slows in the moment of panic, accelerates in moments of enjoyment, and might disappear altogether when focused on a task. We lose time in dreamless sleep, find it disordered in dreams, but know the time, when we wake. We have the perception of personal continuity despite our altered conscious state of sleep.
As we grow older, time overall progresses more quickly. Some think, it is simply faster, since a day is so much shorter in comparison to our lifetime that it is in youth. Another thought it is simply because our days are more filled with tasks requiring attention. It is also possible, our clock neurons pace us at a different beat.
Likely, a most pressing experience is that as we get older, mortality becomes real. When I was young, I knew, I was mortal, but really felt immortal. We all did. Now, as my previous generation including my parents have passed, as friends die and even some children of friends, as we see the reaper strike closely and in random, after facing close brushes with death myself, I am imbued with certainty that my days are finite. As I should have known all along, every day is precious, the now is all we have.
To catch this fleeting time I resolve to seek a daily moment of contemplation here, to remind myself of the beauty that is and the void and uncertainty that awaits us all. Still, what a unique privilege to be alive and have lived.
… carpe diem!

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