TIME is the indefinite continued progress of existence and events that occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past through the present to the future. Time is often referred to as the fourth dimension along with the three spatial dimensions. [Wikipedia]
i think i’m actually thinking of consciousness rather than time, the awareness of time. time on its own is merely the passage of the moments between the rise of the sun for daylight and its ceasing to shine on our portion of the earth. those lighted moments we call day and the non-lighted we call NIGHT. we’ve chosen to subdivide those two moment into HOURS and somehow obscurely decided on twelve for each for a total of twenty-four hours in a DAY. that passage of time flows sand in an hour-glass, ticks analog clocks, clicks digital clocks, millions of clocks flowing ticking & clicking in every time zone in all existence and… in particular on our planet EARTH. seven DAYS make up the WEEK twelve MONTHS and four seasons make one YEAR. clocks and calendars are a big big BIG deal to which we configure ourselves constantly.
the experience of time differs considerably between flora and fauna, plants and animals. plants primarily react to soil and sun conditions, plus subconscious instincts to pollinate, to flower, to seed, to survive as advantageously as possible. we are animals but homo-sapien’s consciousness of time is different from that of the so called animals we rightly or wrongly differentiate ourselves from. time to hunt or time to mate is principally not different from time to go to work and time to cherchez la femme, and subconsciously knowing to swim upstream to spawn for a salmon is not so different from seeking a dancehall or a bar for a man or woman; knowing that deer assemble at a watering hole for a tiger is not so different from choosing a restaurant or buying the ingredients for a meal for man.
so when and where does the reputedly immense differentiation take place between a salmon or tiger and men or women when it comes to what to do on awakening in a morning, or for that matter, considering what to do and how to do it in any moment in the course of the day or night?
i now remember what it was/is that lead me to this contemplation – it is hearing annoying voices telling me and regretfully hearing me tell others words such as: “stop living in the past!” or “just be present in the now!” or “think of your future!” i need to defend myself against all three well-intended concepts, the PAST being experiences & people deeply embedded in memory-psyche. the PRESENT being my sitting alone half naked right now in this writing activity in the early summer heat listening to one or another era of jazz on the radio. the FUTURE being the winning and losing friends this writing might result in, in my ongoing efforts to express as insightfully as i can what i’m experiencing at this eighty-fourth juncture of my one hundred year life’s journey.
living in the present is something dogs and cats, children, zen monks and plants are good at. living in the past is something older people or neurotically damaged people willingly do – the present being often painful due to illness or dysfunctions, and a future diminishing daily. being exhorted to think of your future when contemplating an action is annoying when you are hungry for food or fun or tired. non-human animals do not respond at all to such words, and are in fact a foreign concept. what is so unique in homo-sapiens is that we, at our best, live simultaneously in all three TIME dimensions – the juggling of the three motivates profound exchanges with others, the blending of the three creates multi-dimensional expressions in art-works, organization development and political activities. multi-task thinking is precisely what makes us distinct from animals. conceptual thinking that incorporates our all our psychical functions is another. complex and detail-rich activities.
juggle. jugggle. JUGGLE!
