The Time of Our Lives

     A new year began today. I thought I would begin again on my blog that I stopped writing over two years ago. A new beginning. Isn't every beginning new? If a beginning is new, then can you begin again? Isn't it just continuing with a pause? A pause over two years. My aunt asked if I have end-of-year blues. I told her I don't care about that, the end of the year that is. That years come and go, like men. She said, "Yeah, you're not depressed." Maybe it does have something to do with "end-of-year blues." I look back on 2014 and see I accomplished pretty much none of my resolutions. Does anybody? Just "resolving" to do something on Jan. 1st doesn't mean that we're going to do it, since we haven't done it as of yet. And waiting to start something until the new year is just procrastination because we don't want to start today. Is anyone really more encouraged to start something, and stick with it, because a new year began? A new year is built up to be this new beginning, a clean slate, a new lease on life. It's just passage of time. A measurement we use to organize time into something comprehensible, rather than the open infinity that lies ahead and the infinity that lies behind.

     That's a question I often ponder, who decided, and how did they decide, to measure time? A year I can understand, it takes the earth 365 days to go around the sun. A day, obviously. A month depends on the position of the moon. But what about a second? A minute? An hour? And how many seconds go into a minute, minutes into an hour? How many days a week should be? It was necessary to do, I think; as the human life became more complicated. Developed from hunting and gathering all day to what we know as the work day and work week to manage how long an employee can work, instead of from sunup to sundown. Our lives really revolve around time. How long we work, what time someone starts and stops, when we go to yoga, how long a football game is, when our favorite show is. We celebrate occasions and events on the same day every year. Actually, measurement of time can make life sort of exciting. By measuring time, we look forward to our show, the end of the work day, when yoga instructor counts down to end the plank position. When Christmas is coming, graduation, a wedding day, when to expect a baby. However, there is always the flip side. A dental appointment, a test, a review at work, birthdays for some, Monday.

     It is often talked about what people do with their time. Albert Einstein said, "The only reason for time is so everything doesn't happen at once." The more we do with our time, the more valuable we are. I think of the song "Flowers on the Wall" by The Statler Brothers. "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" waisting time... We are pushed and pushed to always be doing, working. If you're not working, you're worthless. You contribute nothing to society, just the opposite. You're sucking up resources while others work hard. That's a whole other post. This is what I think I no.