What is time, really?
A pause to think about how much of what we call "time" depends on how we choose to live it.
5/8/20242 min read
Time: A Reflection from the Road
Today I want to reflect on time.
What is time, really?
Is there only one, universal time?
Who decided the speed at which it passes?
Or is it, perhaps, a human invention?
Time in Motion
As a backpacker, I've spent a lot of time on the move.
Over the course of a Gregorian year, I traveled through more than three countries, over twenty cities, and met more than a thousand people from different parts of the world.
And when I return to my hometown, where I grew up, I notice how everything has changed: some friends have families, new jobs, more hair… or less. Some are even gone.
Then I ask myself:
Whose year went by the fastest?
If you're interested in seeing more about it, here's a video from one of my recent trips through America!
The Perception of Time
When I experience high levels of stress, anxiety, or depression, time seems to slip away.
Conversely, some days feel endless.
Does my perception of time depend on my mental state?
Time Then and Now
Our hunter-gatherer ancestors awoke with the first rays of sunlight. Their day consisted of gathering fruit or hunting for food.
Many hours could pass between waking and eating.
Who waited longer for their food: my ancestor… or me, waiting for delivery from the comfort of my couch?
How long are we willing to wait for something today?
Human Time
Biologically, modern humans are not so different from those of 5,000 years ago.
Human time remains the same; it's just that now it's predetermined in our minds.
Time, in the end, is a mental trap.
With the industrial revolutions, we adapted to the rhythms of technology and became disconnected from natural rhythms, the truly human ones.
Today, if a delivery takes more than half an hour, we get impatient. We heat our food in the microwave, the water in an electric kettle. And if we send a WhatsApp message and see the two blue ticks without an immediate reply… we get impatient. Our great-grandparents, on the other hand, sent letters that could take months to arrive. And while they waited, they kept on living.
Time as Experience
For me, time is conceived in the mind.
It passes relative to the quality of the moment.
That's why I like to measure my time qualitatively, not quantitatively.
Sometimes I reconnect with friends I haven't seen in five years, and yet, when we see each other, it seems as if no time has passed at all.
A Pause for Reflection
I think it's necessary to take a moment to think about what time means to each of us.
How much time do you dedicate to yourself each day?
How much time do you give to someone else—to your work, your friends, a hobby?
Do you work eight hours for someone else, but can't give yourself an hour a day?
How long has it been since you lay down to look at the sky, breathe, give thanks, and forget about time for a while?
And the big question:
How much longer are you going to live?
When are you going to fulfill that dream?