Time Awareness

I have just thought of this: it is the consciousness of time that effects it’s speed.

When someone is very busy, time just speeds by because one is not paying any attention to it. When someone isn’t busy and is pretty bored than time just drags by because that is all one has on one’s mind.

I have become abundantly aware of this lately. Last Saturday, when I was working on the bean supper, time seemed to speed up and slow down and speed up again as I went throughout the day. When I was trying to get the beans started and wanted them to start cooking before 10:00 am, time seemed to speed by as I chopped and measured and stirred. Then, after my apple pie was in the oven, my coconut cream pie was cooling and the beans were cooking, time was just dragging. I didn’t want to work on any of the things I had brought with me to occupy my time (knitting, crossword, laptop, book, etc.) so I mostly sat and looked at the clock ticking away. After a while, people began showing up to make the cole slaw, set up the hall for the guests and do the rest of the prep work. All of a sudden, time was speeding by and it seemed like we were racing to get everything accomplished before the guests arrived.

Fast, then slow, then fast…time seemed to not run at a steady pace ticking away but seemed to react to my awareness of it.

I suppose this isn’t a new observation. After all, there are people who dedicate their lives to time studies and how to best manage our time. There have been songs written about it, books dedicated to it and countless studies about it. So, no, this is not a new observation.

I guess I am noticing this today because I am a little bored and time is dragging. In thinking about how slowly the clock seems to be ticking away today, it occurred to me that time doesn’t change it’s speed but my awareness of it changes. Maybe sometime in the near future, life will change and I will have something new to think about and occupy my mind. Then time won’t drag along but run at the proper space. In the mean time, time is ticking away…slowly.