Another Take on Time

I’m turning 18 in two weeks and that feels daunting as time marches and one day I will wake up and realize I’m near death. The concept of death and the end of time is scary to most people, so here I offer another perspective on time.

It is sure intuitive to think of time as a line, but what if it’s not? My proposal is to think of it as a dimensionless thing rather than a one dimensional line. If the existence of the past relies on our memory and tales, does it even exist at all? If the future only exists as an expectation and as the result of assumptions, why fear it? Imagine we live in a flipbook, except every page that has been turned disappears, and every page that hasn’t been flipped hasn’t been drawn; it’s drawn the moment it’s shown.

Aging

If there’s no notion of chronological order of past and present, who is to say you’re behind or getting old? All human who lives in the present are equally alive. No one is closer to death than the other because the only mode is to exist or be deceased. Recognizing that the idea of time passing and aging are made-up concepts due to our perceptions is liberating; it eliminates the anxiety of “falling behind” and false urgency. Note that I’m not denying that time is a thing, just the fact that it’s on a line might be easy to conceptualize, but detrimental to rely on it as truth. Don’t grieve for time passing, it ain’t. It’s just changing, and that’s okay. Confronting one’s morality is simply confronting the limitation of our existence, not a punishment; immorality is not a blessing either.

Aspirations

If present is the only “real” thing, there is no excuse for someone not to live their desired/dream moment every moment. This mindset disallows the idea of “suffer now, enjoy later” because one should not live in an unwanted way for the hopes of things that don’t exist. It is then the purpose of life to make every moment the perfect moment; no day passes as hope for a better tomorrow. I often ask myself, “What’s my perfect day like? If today wasn’t the best day, why not?". Questions such as this help myself to focus less on productivity and more on emotional fulfillment.

My ideology is built on Sartre’s idea of existentialism, where existence precedes essence and every individual has complete control over their choices, thus being responsible for themselves. So obviously, I’m not implying there are no obligations requiring things we don’t enjoy doing. As a result of the system’s setup, no one can escape certain Kafkaesque tasks like arguing with insurance companies and crying on the IRS website (happy tears, I promise).

This is a short one yall. I’m trying to get back to this being a weekly thing. Share and subscribe if you can! I hope you enjoyed it. See you again soon!