Remember back when we were kids and summer vacation lasted forever? For me, I think of tireswings, playing Star Wars (I was always Leia, as much as Susanne hated it, but she LOOKED just like Luke) with the gang, beestings, bubble gum, long drives to camping....
*sigh* Ahhhhh......
Today, you blink and 5 years have passed. WTH? It doesn't seem fair. All of those incredible moments just seem to slip through your fingers in the rush of adult life.
Returning to the New Yorker article on
David Eagleman, there's a great little tidbit:
The more familiar the world becomes, the less information your brain writes down, and the more quickly time seems to pass.
Our perception of time can be tied to how much new information the brain is taking in. Those endless summer vacations as a kid (which Mom remembers as a series of "I'm bored" moans, I'm sure) held so many new experiences and encounters. As an adult, it can be easy to get consumed by routine. To fall into a rut of work, eat, TV, sleep (maybe with some chores and bill paying thrown in somewhere). Wa ... hoo.
What's awesome and captivating is simple - open yourself to fascination. Look at the world through new eyes every day. See, do, learn, listen, watch something totally new EVERY DAY and you'll catch more of those bits falling through your fingers. Time will slow, you can savor it more. And because you're endlessly fascinated, you'll never have to groan "I'm bored"......
I am so excited to embrace this.
