I’ve been thinking about time lately, and trying to conceptualize it in any way other than the linear model that is such an integral part of my cultural inheritance — and I’ve been having a lot of trouble. I couldn’t quite get over the obstacle of “I am getting older and will eventually die.” Only now have I made the connection that should have been obvious from the beginning, and which provided this missing piece (though there are many left to find) to my existential puzzle: time doesn’t care about me. I was trying to create a non-linear model of time in the context of my own life, but describing time in terms of me is tantamount to describing emotion as it relates to a hydrogen atom. 

We’ve all been conditioned to view the world through the lens of a linear model of time. What we don’t usually pay any mind to is that this is an entirely artificial construct. Our linear perception of time is the very basic foundation for absolutely everything within our society. We’re taught that everything has a definite beginning and end, e.g. Kindergarten ==> Retirement, Birth ==> Death. I think that this mentality is the source of the vast majority of negative stress in our society because everyone thinks they’re pressed for time. They rush through their lives, sprinting from one task toward another, each building upon the others, heading toward some final goal to be achieved at a later point in their lives. I think they might benefit from trying to see their lives from a cosmic perspective; they might realize that it’s okay to appreciate life on Earth for what it is, and that for us to do anything that we don’t love is the only true waste of time.

Unfortunately, it may be that, as they say, “what’s done is done,” and I doubt many of us are capable of reversing the effects of a lifetime of psychological conditioning - at least not without the assistance of some very powerful chemicals and a lot of time away from “all of this”