Monday, May 14, 2012

Masked Mom's Media Monday: Time

No, not Time magazine, which is not merely reporting news but making it this last week or so with a cover that sensationalized a topic--extended breastfeeding--that need not be sensationalized at all, but time--that tick tocking force with which we all wrestle. When I was much younger, I listened to all the adults in my life yammer on about how fast time passes and thought that they must be exaggerating if not outright delusional. Obviously anyone who had ever sat through an eons-long geometry class with Mr. Edgecomb couldn't argue that time moved swiftly--those stifling hours spent in that poorly ventilated second-floor classroom stretched out behind me and before me in a seemingly unbroken line so infinite that I would not be at all surprised to find myself sitting there still.

Even then, though, I noticed that time was an elastic thing--stretching and springing sharply back to its original shape--depending on what I was trying to do with it. The summer between my junior and senior year of high school, crammed full of daily swimming and viciously competitive nightly games of cards and weekly trips to the ocean, zipped by in the time it took to belt out a couple of choruses of Wham!'s "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go."

As predicted by my elders, it has only gotten worse as I've gotten older. I read somewhere that one of the reasons time seems to go faster as we get older could be a matter of proportion. A year to a four-year-old is a quarter of her life, to a forty year old it is only one-fortieth. It makes a certain sort of sense, though it's little comfort in the face of the fact that I am stunned to find myself very nearly halfway through the month of May 2012 and a little uneasy at the thought that a few minutes from now, I will likely be stunned to find myself in the middle of June 2012.

Masked Mom's One-Word Review: Alarming.

17 comments:

  1. Ah yes, time is fickle, is he not? Sometimes he is my friend, a sweet partner. That would include the first day of summer vacation..... but other times he is ruthless and mean - that is the last day of summer vacation.
    I think the proportion thing is right on. When you are fourteen, time doesn't speed by - but even on my worst days at work, the day is over in a blink - and so is the weekend!

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    1. The weekend/work thing is what actually got me thinking about time this past week. It used to be that time seemed to go much faster on the weekends, or during vacation or other fun stuff, but now it seems like it is just flying by no matter what the hell is going on.

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  2. How come no matter how fast I walk on the treadmill the hour doesn’t go by any faster? Anyway I question the existence of time. What if we weren’t constrained by any measurements of time? Would that meant that I wouldn't have to hurry up to be there on “time"?

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    1. Time is one of those concepts that we take for granted but that somehow fall apart if we look at them to closely. All our measurements of time are actually quite arbitrary and there's some argument in scientific circles about whether the linear way we perceive time is actually just a construct of our brains rather than an accurate understanding of a natural force. It makes my head hurt a little, but I would totally love an excuse to stop hurrying to try to show up on time.

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    2. lyndagrace, you're brilliant. I'll just spend all my time exercising, which will make it slow down.

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  3. I find that the more enjoyment I have in a moment, the faster it goes by. I was surprised to realize 2012 is almost to the halfway mark. I've just now started getting used to writing 2012 (although last week I wrote 2011 all day). Good post!

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    1. by the time I get used to writing 2012 .. it's time to start writing 2013.

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    2. Once in 1994, I wrote 1983 on something. It was horrifying. And for a day or two last month, I WAS writing 2013 on things and having to stop and think it out. It makes me wonder about all those theories about time being fluid, etc, etc. Am I just floating in and out of the present? (I would totally type the Twilight Zone music if I could figure out a way to write it out so that it made sense.)

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    3. I think that must be it... Cool! :)

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  4. AHA! An 80's reference that I understand!

    Going to go annoy the crankiness out of everybody by belting "out a couple of choruses of Wham!'s "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go." now..

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    1. It is an incredibly bouncy song. And, you may or may not be aware of this, but AHA, or at least a-ha, is another '80's reference. ;)

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  5. All of the lyrics to "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" are going to be that last marble that I lose.
    I have a very uncomfortable relationship with time. I lose track of it far too often. It's kind of the same as with my cell phone. I wonder if they're related.

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    1. When that song first came out, my dad was completely convinced that the "jitterbug" part at the beginning was really "candy bar," which makes PERFECT sense in the context of the song.

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  6. What I am very aware of, is how much less time some people in my life have. How much little time I have left to have them in my life and to share with them. How criminal it is to waste time as if there will always be tomorrows. There aren't. It's one thing when you expect a life to continue for decades and decades. It's another when you ignore and take for granted, what precious and little time is left.

    (Nooooooo I still haven't moved on from the CRAP in my life!!! :P :) )

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    1. It's different crap, but I've been kind of sucked down and wallowing in mine these past weeks. Erg. Thanks for stopping by. ;)

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    2. Erg indeed :o/ Sorry you're still sucked down too. I realized in re-reading my comment that I left out an important pronoun - Not that it matters. But for clarity's sake, it bothers me when *others* waste time as if we have all the time in the world. I don't. And I know they don't. Every minute is precious to me. (Hate crap :P )

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