It occurred to me one night after I had crawled into bed….. and then almost every night afterwards. Much in the way a dog will circle and paw until they finally decide they have found their sweet spot and plop down, I climb under the covers, get arranged comfortably, and finally settle in. Then the realization hits; Here I am again. That was the first thought after turning out the light, and it has happened almost every night recently, a real time déjà vu. Here I am again. That was fast.

Has anyone else felt like time is spooling out so quickly? That in the blink of an eye there you are back in bed, the day over and heading into the next? Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Lately, nightly, after tucking into the covers again, I can’t help but feel like I was just there not very long ago. This started me wondering if it was a senior phenomenon, the days rushing by at lightning speed as one heads into the Autumn and Winter of our years. Or is it just a seasonal thing? Perhaps this is happening to all of us, the Universe moving us at Warp 10?

Earworm of the Day –

Drink in your summer, gather your corn
The dreams of the nighttime will vanish by dawn

This lead to doing a few searches on why this feels as if it is happening. Of course there is a theory – which I have mentioned in this blog before, after some cerebral (and possibly chemically induced) discussions with friends long ago. So I am not sure if it is an official theory or only our own musings – that as you age, each year becomes a fraction of your life. Therefore, if you are eight years old, a year is one eighth of your life, and endless. But if you are eighty, a year is one-eightieth, which is a very small fraction, thus seeming to fly by.

One speculation suggests that as we age, the processing time in our brains is hindered by naturally damaged nerves, which hinder the processing of neural signals. At least that is how I understand it, which is kind of sobering, but maybe not so surprising.

Something possibly significant I read is that staying in a routine can cause the feeling of time moving quickly, while engaging in different or new experiences changes the pattern and gives the perspective of time slowing down.

There are some routines that are necessary and also comforting in life. We all have them, often done in a certain order. It could be waking up early in the morning and playing New York Times word games before even getting out of bed. Making or not making your bed first thing. Preparing some coffee before anything else happens – or not. Showering in the morning, or maybe only at night. The route you choose to drive to work. The day you do laundry or change the sheets. Setting aside a block of time in the day to deal with bills, or to immerse in something creative. Reading before bed. Watching the news at the same time every evening. Perhaps a daily walk. Whatever it is, there tends to be some air of security and stability in following an internal schedule (of sorts) – to a degree (there can be extremes to this). I think the premise regarding slowing time might be then to shuffle things a bit by breaking the pattern?

Being one who has periodically rearranged my routine in some interesting (and sometimes crazy) ways, I have to admit I haven’t felt too motivated about venturing into the new or unknown in quite a while. Perhaps that is why the “Here I am again. That was fast” cycle of finding myself back in bed for the night so quickly is happening. Maybe it’s time to shake things up. Heading into the winter months probably isn’t such a good time to test this out, but I’m going to keep the idea on the back burner. Always up for a little experiment. And who doesn’t want to slow down time a bit?

And time waits for no one, and it won’t wait for me
And time waits for no one, and it won’t wait for me

~*~

* “Time Waits for No One” – written by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, from The Rolling Stones “It’s Only Rock and Roll” 1974