Here it is November already. I was amused when the manager at my workplace began putting up Halloween decorations in the middle of September; and now Halloween has come and gone. I can now look forward to my favorite holiday – the only traditional holiday I pay attention to – Thanksgiving. It will come and go like all things. All things must pass away and all the people and pets we have ever known will pass away as well. There is no truer statement and yet it is a hard pill to swallow, when we grieve the loss of a loved one.
Where does the time go? Time never went anywhere. It is imaginary. It is not real. In fact, it does not exist. Human beings spend far too much “time” in their heads – in the past and in the future – but past and future do not exist either. We pretend. We tell ourselves stories about events that came and went. Time has nothing to do with it. We make a big deal about a person’s age, not understanding that we – and life – are timeless.
There has been controversy for years about Daylight Savings Time, about when it should begin, when it should end, and if we should have it at all. It was a crazy idea that began in the early 1970s. I remember it well because I was having to ride my bicycle to my job at a greenhouse – in the dark. It has always frustrated me because twice a year I have had to re-adjust my body to the changed “time.” I have never liked Daylight Savings Time. I do not like getting up in the dark and I do not like going to bed when it is still light outside. There is legislation that is trying to make Daylight Savings a permanent thing, so regardless of what I prefer, I will have to live according to the decision that is made.
We say that time keeps marching on when it is actually only events that have come and gone and that remain in our memory. Every morning we awake to move through another rising and setting of the sun. We do this over and over again, but only a very few days will earn a place in our memory vault. Time has gone nowhere, but we continue on carrying with us the joys, sorrows, and lessons of previous events. When we learn to live in and appreciate the moment, “time” simply does not exist.
