There is no existence for one without time. And there is no time for one who has ceased to exist. Time and existence, we are given. To make a life. For one lifetime, time and existence move and glide by in synchrony until existence ends. For this essay, we will consider them as one though existence ceases and time stays.
Time is the most precious thing we have in our existence, in our lifetime. What do we make of it? How do we use it? How do we lose it? Can we preserve it? Can we extend it? Why are we perplexed with its fleeting nature? When do we endure its agonizing burden? Life and time: one cannot exist without the other. Yet time cannot be stopped. It cannot be controlled. It is beyond human grasp to make it stand still. It cannot reverse course. It simply glides by swiftly. Quietly. On the other hand, life riding on time, can be shaped and defined by the use of time. It can be made rich and useful. It can be squandered. It can be snatched at any moment’s notice. Time stays for all. It passes by and it leaves us behind. Life, we take it to our grave. Our legacy may stay like stardust in the air or like dust to be blown away.
Questions on life and time, the quality of life, the use of time, the end of time will be discussed separately. The following will attempt to characterize time as it glides swiftly with life.
Time is the indelible mark of the moment. It cannot be undone and cannot be brought back nor repeated. Immediately, it becomes a thing of the past but continues to exist in the present. It can be likened to how essence gathers its being from all it passes through. The past ushers in the present. It’s the sum total of memories and thoughts that exist together in a single moment. The thoughts might dissipate but emotions will stay to feed the essence, the spirit and tell the story of the passing of the moment.
What is the passing of time? Who remembers how it moves? How do you experience the passing?
The passing is remembered through the mark made in your memory, the feeling left behind and the thoughts that grew into knowledge. Enlightenment or revelation of you, people and the world around you. People you impact will also mark the passing of a moment. The world you change for good or for worse will show the wound and the love you left behind.
If time is the sum total of one’s thoughts, memories and feelings for the moment and the ripples these create within oneself and the people and the world, then time is marked by the manner, the intensity and serenity of how you live a life, what you do, what you think, what you create and what you take and give to the universe. When time passes, what’s left in the deepest curve of your clenched fist?
Nothing stands still. Time moves you whether you know it or not, whether you like it or not.
If one loses memories, did time pass for that person? There is no mark of the passing in that self. Time for the person without memories pass through those who see because they see and remember their own mark of the moment.
How does time warp? Where does time warp? It happens in the minds and hearts of people with Alzheimers or those who, for one reason or another, for one condition or another, remove themselves from the present and fly back to the past. Time takes them back. The past comes back to life and becomes the present. The memories belong to the past but the experience belongs to the present. It’s the past recreated and relived. If time can be defined by the memories and experience during the actual passing of time, then, this present time, soon to be past, is really the past and the present at the same time. For them, no memories of the immediate past and present will exist. They will never be formed except to those who observe them. Those who observe will remember the emotions or lack of emotions on those who exist in the past. The smile. The enlightened face. The smirk. The anger. The confusion. But for the people experiencing these, no new memories will be formed though time will pass in both the past and in the present. This is how time is warped. This is where time is warped.
Why does time move slower when you see and experience new things? Is it because your mind remembers more when there is a richer plethora of things to behold and to experience? The emotion is heightened when you see or experience something new. The manner time passes is fed with the newness of things, people and the world. Then, does time give you the notion that it multiplies or expands within the same amount because of heightened experience? What is then is the value of time? How is it measured?
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Time and Life Use or loss of time for a life desired
Why does time fly when you have a fixed goal? When you have numerous steps to take to get there? And time crawls when your mind is set on nothing? ”