About Time

One fulfilling consequence of this blog has been receiving reactions from other people turning fifty.

Take Mari's approach to her fiftieth birthday, for example: 

"My milestone is approaching fast. I have invited my relatives (there are lots of them) to a nearby museum centre where is also a museum of horology. (http://www.kellomuseo.fi/englanniksi.pdf) I just visited the horology museum and can now guide my relatives though it. Time and its passing is suitable theme for my milestone."

Suitable indeed.  It's difficult not to think about the concept of time when one contemplates the years we've already lived, and those yet to unfold.

I can recall slow summer afternoons during my childhood -- spent wondering how on earth to fill the days until school started in September.  The eons that seemed to lumber between breakfast and bedtime.

Or the impatient angst of my teen self, cramming as many extracurricular activities and two part-time jobs into the week to combat the boredom of living in a small, rural town.  It seemed like it would be forever before I would graduate and leave for university.

Then, at university, time suddenly sped up.  Poof! It was December and my first set of exams.  Poof! It was third year!  Poof!  I was finished and thrust into my next life chapter.

And time has seemed to speed up every year since then.  The months and (how is it possible?!) years have spun by faster and faster.  

These days, the weeks slip by so quickly, they blur together. I'm barely begun on Monday morning when suddenly, it's the weekend.  Or the next Monday. 

It's difficult to enjoy the passage of time when I'm feeling this temporal whiplash.

But I'm trying. Every day, several times a day, I take a few moments to just 'be'. 

Plus I'm giving special attention to this particular year -- my fiftieth.  I'm endeavouring to spend these particular fifty-two weeks well.  The rationale for aiming for (at least) 50 Frolics this year is to make a point of enjoying this time.  I'm committed to (at least) 50 Creative Projects to imbue these 365 days with purpose. My other fiftieth projects -- trying (at least) 50 New Recipes and reading (at least) 50 Books -- are a way of enriching my life during this particular period.

Will the days ever slow down?  Later in life, will time seem to decelerate?  I wonder.

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Activity:  Think about the concept of 'time'.  What does it mean to you?  What do you notice about its passage?  What has been your perspective on time during different chapters of your life?  For example, how did you regard time as a child?  As a young adult?  Now?

Activity:  What can you do to make the most of this particular year? What would be a meaningful use of your time?

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