Time unexplained, yet again

     Not so long ago, in a galaxy not so far away, there was not enough time. Not enough hours in the day, not enough days in the week, not enough weeks in the year, until it was all summed up in not enough years in a lifetime. Great studies were done in the search for better time management. Processes were created to help combat the growing problem that only seemed to multiply with each passing year. Experts were called in to investigate the issue and try to resolve the age old dilemma.

   

                  Still people kept running out of time.

Some of them literally did.

And when they fell back in time, they were shocked by what they had learned.

                          Time really did not exist.

    This sure made life a whole lot easier. Instead of worrying that there was not enough time to get something done, they would just do it until it was completed. Then move on to the next task or project that needed doing. This meant that sometimes more was accomplished, sometimes less was accomplished. But it was okay. There was always enough time for what needed to be done. The moment they began to understand that there was no such thing as time, they were no longer under any time restraints. It was incredibly liberating.

     I subscribe to this belief wholeheartedly. Anyone who has fallen out of time will say the same. There is plenty of time to do the things you need to do. That you are supposed to do. You should try not to worry about time, you can't run out of what doesn't exist. My 17 year old nephew just looks at me like I have six heads, and none of them are quite right. So I tried to explain it to him. 

     If you watch a pot filled with water on the stove, it will take longer to boil. No matter what the timer in the stove tells you.

    That is perception, he tells me. 

     Really, then how come I could run all the errands I had today, do the clean up that needed to be done, schedule details for an upcoming trip, work on my writing, pay bills, balance household accounts, check homework, make dinner and read a chapter from the book I picked up in the library before 5pm? Did I have more physical hours in the day than yesterday? Or did I just perceive that I had more time to do all of this?

     He asked me if I got everything done that I wanted to do. I told him nope, but some of what I wanted to do, didn't need to get done. So no sense in my driving myself crazy to do that stuff.

     He scratched his head. "Aunt Duck," he said. "Time is a constant and runs in a linear direction."

    I chuckled. I shook my head. I explained to him that if I believed that, I could only go forward and never stop to move back and relive the memories I had with loved ones or visit the moments that were profound. I could never capture the moment of the peace that I experienced when I first held my daughter. I would not be able to hold the hand of my grandmother as she drew slower and slower soft breaths. I could never stop where I was and just be there, for I would be forever propelled forward. Quite frankly, that would be a most depressing scenario and one that I hoped I would never have to live.

    I live without time. I can be in the past with the people I miss. I can go to the future with the people I will meet. I can be in the moment as long as I want to.  I know that the minutes and hours and days are fluid, unpredictable in their length and duration, but that there will be enough of them to do what needs to be done. They will be long enough for me to live and live fully. Sometimes I will be happy, sometimes I will be sad, and sometimes I will be angry, but there is enough life for all of these.  Some days will be quicker than others. But through it all, I can accomplish what needs to be done, without restraints.

     Luckily  for me, my days are not numbered. It is a great relief to not have this burden. If I knew how many days were in my life I would be worried that I might waste them and not give in to precious daydreaming and idle chatter. I might call in experts to control and manage and increase productivity instead of allowing what is supposed to happen to happen. 

    And we certainly could not have had this conversation. There simply would not be enough time.