Perpetual Ruminations

The Passing of Time

Where does time go? I understand its passing is in proportion to our actions, pleasant time passes quickly, unpleasant time moves slowly. Mr. Einstein stated it the best, "Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity."

That sums up how quickly time passes, but what about time vanishing? For example, there are still four days left to the week, so plenty of time to log in and write. But I'm busy, I'm tired, so I don't get in for a couple of days. That's alright, I'll catch up on the weekend. Those were my thoughts around March eighteenth. Now it's March twenty-ninth and my thoughts are, "Where the hell did last week go?"

Sure, I've been busy and there's a lot going on, but still, a whole week missing. Yet, I can look back at various tasks for any of the missing days. I could recount each and every one of the days but yet they still managed to slip past as if they weren't days but mere hours. I could understand it if I had been spending those days with a pretty girl, as Mr. Einstein stated, but there were also a lot of tasks that were unpleasant. Not as bad as holding y hand on a hot stove, but still not enjoyable things; still, the days vanished rapidly.

Perhaps time is speeding up? I mean, look at the global warming thing and how drastic the weather and climates are supposedly changing. Mind you, I'm not taking a side on this, not one way or the other. That our climate is changing, I believe it is. Why it's changing, I have my thoughts and opinions, but that's not the discussion here. The discussion here is time, not climate.

However, it seems to me that time is also changing, going faster and faster. I'm not talking about measurements done with clocks and timekeeping devices; an hour is still sixty seconds. I'm talking about how much can be done in the time we have. And, since we measure time the same, even though it's passing faster, we cannot see it; not until it's changed a lot.

For example, think of a candy bar that costs a dollar. As inflation grows, the price must either increase or the size decrease. But, imagine if you will, they don't make a big change. Instead, they shave off just a minute amount each week! The price still remains constant, but the candy bar decreases. However, since they are only shaving off an amount as thick as a hair each month, nobody notices how the bar is decreasing in size.

That's my theory, and that's where I'm at right now. I'm looking at it and thinking, "Wasn't this candy bar a lot bigger a couple of years ago?" But, with nothing to compare it too, I can't be sure...