Complete Randomness

The other day someone said to me "Wow, I can't believe that it's December." Not an uncommon phrase (or thought for those of us who work in education). That did get me to think though about how often and under what circumstances we say these little time epihanies. Taking an anecdotal sample of my own life, I've said the following phrases at least this past year:

-"I can't wait for six months from now."
-"Is it May yet?"
-"I can't believe NACURH is over."
-"I can't believe NACURH is in six months."
-"This week is going to be rough."
-"Thank God, this week is over."
-"Wow, remember what last year at this time was like?"

Upon review and dissemenation of these phrases, we use them in one of two contexts:

Relief or Anticipation

Furthermore, either of these can be positive or negative, but for the most part, that's it. You're either looking back at something and reflecting what your thoughts are now that everything is passed. Or you're looking forward to something (good or bad) and projecting how you think it will be. What's super interesting about this is that we say these things in the present moment, when strangely it seems, that the present moment is neutral. We do the same when we reflect, we think of the last moment before the 'chaos' started and try to remember what we were like at that moment. Equally, when we project, we look to that moment when said event will be passed, and wonder how we could even get there to begin with.

All the while this phenomena is going on in our head, time is still moving, at a continual pace, without our interference (unless your Hiro from Heroes). It's kinda like time saying to us "Hey it doesn't make a difference what you think, I'm gonna keep moving."

And yet, despite how many times we say these chronological conundrums, we still are shocked by the passage of time. Why does this surprise us? What power do our brains have to alter our own reality long enough create what feels like a temporal pause? And is this good for us? Is this constant going back and forth between relief and anticipation good for stress levels or atitude or our own sanity?

It's like being in a car. Which do you like better? Driving on one long road, continuously, with no stops (maybe the occasional slowing down to avoid collision); or driving street to street, light to light, making full stops, waiting a few seconds, then cruising toward your next stop? Personally, I'm a fan of that distance driving. The continual need to cruise. This then gets me think of something I once heard on a science channel, related closely to a maxim of my grandmother.

Traveling is supposed to cause you live longer. I'm sure there's tons of health benefits associated with traveling, mentally and physically (perspective shifts, relaxing moments, exciting moments, meeting new people, etc.). But what if, for some strange reason, that's really related more to the fact that you move against time and space? That the goal is NOT to stand still (and I know that this is impossible since we need to sleep, sit, and rest every once in a while...I know this because my Sim character whines at me when he doesn't get to do that).

I'm not suggesting to be erratic or impulsive either, I'm just saying, what if we're meant to be constantly moving from moment to moment, at an even pace, slowing down or speeding up, depending on the context of what's going on, taking it all in as it comes?

Who knows? But I can't believe it's 1am already.

pb