The Blog

Time Is On My Side

Sitting in the kitchen the other day, my husband walked in and said, “They’re already putting out school supplies at the store. It's only the beginning of July!” "Give it a week," I said. "You'll be seeing Christmas displays everywhere." We both scoffed. He said, “No wonder time’s flying the way it is! The future is practically forced upon us. This would be a good blog subject.” I agreed, but with no intention of writing about it. Why? Because when someone else suggests a topic, I feel it’s already been claimed. In other words, I’m not going to write about an idea that came from somebody else, and try to pass it off as my own. Of course, if I ever start getting paid for this blog, the tune of my whistle might change. Until then, I must remain ethical. However, yesterday while at the craft store, I saw the clerks clearing isles, making room for the impending holiday season. My eyes scanned scarecrows and tombstones, witch's cauldrons and skeletons. I thought, “Either Michael’s is trying to appeal to crafty occultists, or my husband was on to something.” It’s like there’s this whole cultural scare about time running out, yet we can't help but be obsessed with the future. “Live every day like is your last! But don't forget to prepare for Valentine’s Day ten months in advance!” We’ve become so consumed with preparing for tomorrow, it's sucking all the time out of today. I understand that the ever-growing pace at which time passes is up for debate. Some say it’s linked to the continuous expansion of the Universe. But any time I can make myself feel righteous, I do, so that’s why I blame everything on either, A) the government, or B) the marketing industry. In this case, it's the latter. Marketers cram the inadequacy of the present moment down our throats. Again, once the marketing industry starts making money for me, I won’t be stickin’ it to the man anymore. I’m not too proud to say it. I’ll be like, “Buy my book in August, it’ll be a great stocking stuffer!” But I digress. What I'm saying is, we can't even enjoy the Fourth of July without being forced to start thinking about Halloween. Maybe this is one of the reasons time is flying by so quickly. We live for the future. This has me wanting to take the subject one step further. Let's move beyond the fear-mongering marketing industry and get a little more existential. We need to remember that time is as infinite as space. Just like the size of the Universe, it can’t be measured. That’s a pretty big idea to wrap your mind around; at least it is for me. “Whoa…like…whoa…” But it’s true. The idea that something so infinite can be managed by the human race is a ridiculous illusion. However, what we can manage is perspective. Think about it. When a day is moving too slowly for you, you tell yourself, “It’s usually tomorrow by now—this day is dragging ass!” The same thing with a quick day. “It’s ten o’clock already? I'm running out of time!” We do this and end up manifesting the very thing we stress about. I'm reminded of my first blog post. I wrote about running late. How I typically stress, “I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!” This stress invariably opens the time vacuum and I end up being even later than I should’ve been. But that day, I was like “Whatevs” and inexplicably arrived at my destination early. It was all perspective, right? So here's what I propose: "Perspective Management" Try and tell yourself the outcome you want is the only outcome there is. Create the day ahead of you instead of waiting to react to a circumstance. See how this affects your time. All this from school supplies and Halloween décor? Yep. Michelle