Time Perception

While bored at work, Janet gazed outside the shop window where she noticed a short, red-haired person walking past. The person gave a smile before walking along.

Janet turned to her co-worker, Terence. “So, how’s your week been?”

“I’ve done nothing,” he replied.

“Are you sure?” asked Janet. “You must have done something this week?”

Terence looked thoughtful. “I suppose. Doing the shopping. Working. Gardening. Talked to a couple of friends.” It had taken a while for Terence to list these things.

“There you go. You shouldn’t dismiss those things as ‘nothing’. Is there any wonder that we say time goes so fast when we let all of those things go into a blur of nothingness.”

“Well, it’s true but I mean what I’ve done isn’t anything special. It’s just the usual stuff.”

“It may not be something to put on a CV, or something that is deemed as important by our society, but that does not mean it has to be ignored. Having a routine should not have to mean that you go into autopilot. You should always try and look at your routine in different ways. Change things up from time to time. Even small things can make a difference. You don’t have to go too far, but if you want to have the full experience of life, don’t block out parts that are deemed as uninteresting. Live every moment. Do not live your whole life through thoughts and expectations. Sometimes, you should just give the amazing reality in front of you the chance to take you through experiences. I’m sure the list of things you’ve just told me barely covers what you’ve done anyway.”

“Probably, if I really think about it. It’s funny, like you said that I simply described my week in one word, yet that was totally inaccurate. It doesn’t give full justice to what I’ve done. I’ll take your advice to into account.”

“It’s hard at first, but I’ve found that I feel more appreciative of everything now. Don’t get me wrong, life is just as much about the exciting things as well as the routine. What I’m saying is that instead of holding out for the exciting parts, you should also make the most of your routine as well, rather than just dismissing it. In fact, your routine can become an interesting part of life as well. There’s no reason why you can’t have fun experiencing the same thing more than once. I’m not saying that will work for everyone, but it’s something to think about.”

“I’ll give it a try. There is a lot to be excited about in life even in so-called mundane activities. Just because something has happened before, doesn’t mean that you should lose the right to be surprised if it happens again.”

“Exactly. There’s nothing wrong with looking at the horizon from time to time, but don’t let the horizon cloud what you have in front of you right now. In fact, talking of time perception. I’ve got a game we can play seeing as there’s no customers about right now. Let’s see how many things you can fit into one minute,” said Janet.

“OK, I’m up for that,” replied Terence.

“Good. The minute starts now…” ordered Janet.

Terence began running around the shop.

Once the minute had finished, Terence exclaimed, “Wow, I managed to fit in a lot there. I picked up some change from the floor, ran around the shop three times, did a handstand, put my coat on, moved the opening hours sign and splashed some water around the place. All in one minute!”

“Admittedly you didn’t do anything particularly useful there, but the point is that you can fit in a lot if you are urgent about things. In that one minute alone you did many things. Just think about what you could do if you have lots of minutes like that. Try to fit in as many of those minutes as you can in one day, if you have the time of course. You could have a life story worth of things to talk about rather than just one word. Of course it doesn’t just have to be actions you can fit into that one minute. Another variant of the game is to see how many things you can absorb or pay attention to in that one minute. I find it helps you make more of life.”

“Thanks,” said Terence as a customer entered the store.

“This is an amazing shop you have. I love the stone floor,” remarked the customer.

“Oh yeah, that is great. I sometimes forget how great this place is. I find I appreciate it more when I return here after a holiday.”

The customer replied, “Same here. I find that when I’m doing something exciting for the first time, I bottle those feelings up and I make sure that I never forget what made me excited about it in the first place.”

Janet replied, “That is a brilliant sentiment. Of course you’re not going appreciate something all of the time, but you should at least think about why you appreciate it at least once a week or so.”

“I need to do that. That stone floor was lost on me until you just mentioned it. I mean, this glorious setting is always here, but sadly the same cannot be said about me. I’m just in my own world where I take things for granted.”

“Anyhow, as I was saying, what a marvellous stone floor. I’d better be going now,” said the customer.

“See you,” said Janet.

“Thanks for the lovely comments,” added Terence. “Going back to time perception. I was just thinking about how my driving lessons from ten years ago seemed like just yesterday. Then, I thought about all the things I’ve done in between then and now. That’s when it hit me how much time has actually elapsed since then, and that I have done a lot in that time.  Now I realise time hasn’t gone so fast after all. It’s all about the perspective.”

Janet replied, “I totally agree. The future can appear so far yet the past can seem so near, while the present is always here. Is it any wonder why time can be such a confusing thing? I find that if you remember something clearly, then you can transport yourself to that moment like it is now. It’s weird how you can play with your sense of time.

Terence added, “If you think about it. There are probably a lot of events that seem like ‘yesterday’. If you add all those events up, then yesterday must have been a very long day.”

Janet laughed. “And if I add up all the things I’ve got planned, then tomorrow will also be a very long day. Some of us complain about how long a day can seem, yet those same people go on to moan about how quickly time can go by. What would be the perfect sense of time for those people?”

Janet gazed out of the shop window, and spotted the same short, red-haired person that she had noticed earlier on in the day. This time, they were walking in the opposite direction. Unlike earlier, they were now clad with clothing, apparently from the local amusement park’s gift shop. They were also carrying shopping bags from the local high street in one hand, while playing a flute in the other. They were also now walking with two other people. The short person looked at the shop and waved.

Janet immediately waved back before speaking out aloud, “I think I’ve made a new friend.”