THE SPEED OF TIME

[MARCIA KOSTERKA]

Following are some thoughts I wrote some time ago on a subject I have always found fascinating. I would like to invite readers to reply to this and other things I may post here. I’d like to hear your thoughts and opinions, also any poetry you might have written or words and thoughts that have meaning to you.

THE SPEED OF TIME

There are times, when I sit and think about a certain subject, questioning it and may be seeking answers, or curious about it and seeking just a simple piece of information, when suddenly something will occur that I wasn’t even looking for. It is as if the mind is a window without a pane of glass, which allows something in or something out freely as though it were light. If I am in search of something in particular, I sometimes struggle. I generally find what I’m looking for, but when I discover without searching, it just happens. When that window is open, whatever happens by, may be blown in by the wind. If I am searching, I can look through the window, to the right, left, or in the distance, but nothing may be drifting by. If the window is always open, it can happen at any time, or perhaps not. If you are searching, every second or minute becomes a time of focus and can even be frustrating when nothing comes your way, and because of impatience, it seems forever, and you may lose interest. Leave the window open and days and weeks may go by and then it happens. Something comes drifting in. The window of the mind should always be open.

Having no focus in particular, makes long spans of time seem but a short time. I have always been fascinated by time. I was never one of those that delved into time travel, as in science fiction, and how to travel from one time to another. I never felt that was possible, although I understand the concept of some new theories that are taking hold. What I considered most often, was the difference of what time meant and was relevant to various forms of life from the perspective of each one in comparison to all others. For instance, we have a certain speed of time in the realm of what we see and deal with regarding the speed of time. We measure it, with clocks, define it in seconds, minutes, hours, days, etc. The measure of speed that I am talking about, is the speed we observe by the eye rather than what we measure instrumentally. I think about the speed of a car going by, a dog trotting past, or a snail crawling on a sidewalk. If you were a hummingbird, the speed of time would be quite different to you. It flaps its wings so fast we can’t even see each stroke. When the hummingbird sees us, we are barely moving. This is the same for us as we observe a snail, or even a tree. We could stand and watch a tree all day long and believe that nothing ever moved, but time lapse photography would show otherwise. There are many who understand this concept well. You may be one of them and can also grasp this concept. That to me, is precious, to be able to grasp it and not just know it. Then, you can become the hummingbird, or the snail, or the tree. As a hummingbird, you can vividly see the human move at the pace of a snail. This may only be interesting to someone who did not know this. So if this is something you know and have moved on past, then enlighten me on what you know beyond that and fascinate me even more.

I hope to write a poem someday soon, but have not taken it farther than an idea and a notion. I would title it, I Am The Water. I would speak of the water, as the water. That idea came to me while at the Thinking Stream, quietly watching the water as it carried a fallen leaf down and around rocks, over them, through small but violent whirlpools, and then past into calm water. I can easily see these scenes as a colony of ants carrying a hard earned prize as they move in unison over and around rocks and other obstacles. The whole idea of understanding other forms to me, is simply to become them.

I have learned so many things from others. Some, from people that I have nothing in common. A famous martial artist by the name of Bruce Lee, had many philosophical thoughts that not only related to his profession, but to understanding his trade through understanding how the world around him worked. He perceived that in order to simplify things, rather than add steps to the process, you removed as many as possible. He believed one should cast away learned ideas and cut to the chase. One concept he once said publicly, which I have never forgotten, was about making things simple. He said, “In order to make things simpler, you simply simplify.” He became a master at that. When we become the things around us, we truly are not a part of the universe. We are the universe and it is us. Some things happen without a predetermined path of interest…they just happen…you discover, and sometimes you discover… yourself.

CaptainRon65

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