Time...

I've been thinking about time recently, thinking about it all the time it seems. I blame my father for starting me on this path. He recently wrote:

"A sunny morning to start a new day, a new week, and a new month, as we advance into the second half of the year.  At least that is the popular conception of time.  We believe that we are moving forward in time, progressing and growing... 

It's said that the classical Greek notion of time was that we, and the rest of the world, were stationary and time was flowing past us.  An idea that led to the old joke about time.  The philosopher states: 'Time is a river and you can never step in the same water twice'.  To which the wise guy replies: 'You could if you walked downstream'."

Advancing, progressing, growing...we move forward regardless of how we are feeling.  Is this year different from the last?  Will next year be different?  What will change?  

Most of us consider January 1 to be the start of a new year. In academia we get to add a date around September 1, too--the start of a new academic year. But could we think of every day as the start of a new year?  Each day is one year away from another 365 days into the future. Every evening can be a New Year's Eve!

 

In today's Chronicle of Education an essayist wrote: "When my younger son was 4, he resisted bedtime mightily. We’d say, “OK, time’s up,” and he would insist, “No! Time’s down!” Exactly, I think, what we all need on a perfect summer day—for time to be down."  

What if time was down?  We could stop the river for a bit.  Would we really want to?  Remember the song, "If I could save time in a bottle."  Surely there are times we want to stop and hold on to, and just as surely there are times we want to fast forward through and never revisit again, downstream or up.