I have been thinking about time more and more as I age and as I watch my parents age.
Looking up quotes about time, there were too many great ones to share them all. As Virgil once wrote, “Time passes irrevocably.” Golda Meir said, “I must govern the clock, not be governed by it.”
We waste time. We race the clock. We say that time flies or that time heals all wounds.
Right now, at this moment in time, what do you think about time? Does it feel like time is moving in slow-motion in your life? Does it feel sped up and chaotic?
Looking back on your life, have you used your time well? What about your future? How do you see time in relation to what lies before you?”These are the times that try men’s souls,” declared Thomas Paine while Frodo of the Shire said, “I wish it need not have happened in my time.”
What do you think about these times and the times you have witnessed? What are you happy to have seen happen in your time? What are you sad you might miss? What do you hope to see?
Tell me your thoughts about time, and I’ll leave you with some lighter words from the always-wise Dr. Seuss about time:
How did it get so late so soon?
It’s night before it’s afternoon.
December is here before it’s June.
My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon?
2 Comments
Judi
There is an old woman in my full length mirror. She’s hunched over in pain, overweight, and has gray hair. My eyes see her and my brain says it’s me. My picture of me is thinner, stands up straight and has beautiful long, brown hair. What happened to her? Time happened. Some of her was left in an office at IBM, some in dining rooms of restaurants, in copy rooms of newspapers or in call centers. Most of her is in this house, where I raised my children, where their children came for Easter Egg hunts, and where great grandchildren were lain In my arms, and where another one soon will be.
Whenever I could I took pictures, most of them not posed. I wanted to capture the moments of my life so that when I’m old and confined I can look at these pictures and remember. Did it go too fast? No, I don’t think so. Some of it went too slow, but all in all, it’s been a good pace and I look forward to time to come…
Patricia
Judi, thank you for sharing your thoughts. I really like how you juxtapose “you” as you are, as visible in the mirror, with “you” as you imagine her still to be. Your descriptions of where she has left some of herself gives readers a little peak into her history. It communicates a touch of sadness for what has been left behind, and perhaps even where it was left (was it meaningless, ultimately?), yet also gratitude for the sweeter moments with loved ones. How time moves is what we make of it.