MORE ON TIME

It is another absolutely amazingly, marvelous Morning. I could just sit and watch the view from my window. I mentioned this giant Canadian Thistle that grows right outside the window. I didn't realize those pink blossoms provided nectar for butterflies. Yellow Swallow Tails, as well as Monarchs, visit them. Gold Finches are constantly flitting by. The other day, I was outside, by the fence, I was looking for the sheep, when two Gold Finches did a dance in front of me. They were flying beak to beak. They were so engrossed in their activity, that they were not aware of me, until they were right in front of my face. They were two males, so I assume it was some kind of fight, but they looked like they were kissing.

When we were coming back from the thrift store on Wednesday, I opined that the store must not have been there long. Jamie replied, "It has been there at least five years." I said, "Five years isn't anything to me any more." Then we had a conversation about the illusion of time. If you take that same five year block of time and move it back to 1958 -1963. It was hugely significant. In 1958 I was a non-high school grad entering college. In 1959 I got married. In 1960 I bought my first house. In 1960 I had my first child.  In 1962 I graduated from college with a BA in psychology. In 1962 I had my first professional job. In 1963 I had my second child.

In that five year period my whole life changed. Every aspect of life evolved significantly; scholastic, marital, economic, professional, parental and social. I developed a whole new network of relationships. There was very little resemblance between my life in 1958 and 1963.

When you have been on this planet eighty years you see how relative time is. I have been retired fifteen years. It seems like no-time. Imagine the same fifteen years, from when your first child is born to their fifteenth birthday, that could seem like eternity. I lived in my first house fifteen years. I have lived in this house forty years. It doesn't seem like I have lived here, two and a half times longer, than I lived there.

In terms of our perception of time, it is certainly illusory. As fast as time goes for me now, it still drags for me sometimes. For instance, Jamie says, "Why don't you stop at this thrift store, I will run in, just for a minute, you can read your paper, I'll be right back." Sometimes it seems like 'just a minute'. Sometimes it seems like an age. I am not sure the actual time on the clock matters so much. What is going on in my mind and body will be of most significance when experiencing relative time. If I have the urge to micturate, it will really seem a long time.

So the perception of time may be an illusion; but is time itself an illusion. Supposedly it is, in eternity. How many of us can really grasp eternity?  We live in constant change; the grass comes up, flowers bloom, we are born, we grow, we get teeth, we get taller, we get older, we lose our hair, we get gray, we get fat, we get thin, our bodies gradually wear out and give up. In the meantime, the whole world changes around us from season to season. Cities come and cities go. Nothing stays the same.

I am perfectly willing to believe that time is something, we measure on this planet of relativity, and that it is different in other spheres of existence. The idea of unending creation in all directions, without reference to time, is something at this point, I can only vaguely grasp. However, when I meditate, I can get some sense of it. Perhaps if we learn to live in the moment, without reference, to past or future, we will be able to understand it better.

Our teachers tell us that time and space do not really exist. I don't quibble about the reality of this idea. However, 'reality' is the operant term. Right now our reality is the illusion we have created. Perhaps we will see more, soon.

Love is shining brightly, it is changing our perception of everything.

Happy Friday!

Love and Peace,  Gregg