Time is a curious thing. I remember always wanting to be older at one point in my life. (I do believe we all felt this way, especially when it came to rides at Disneyland...) People always told me that someday time would go too fast and I should appreciate being the age I am. I found this very annoying. Just because someday I would want time to slow down, did NOT help me appreciate the present. If anything, it made me dread the future. And here I am, the day before I am about to turn 27 (something unimaginable several years ago) and I suddenly life is just passing before me...
I think the reason why this happens is because of markers. Markers in life keep life measurable. Let's take school years, for instance. Each year in school, you progress one grade. And so, each year you take considerable note of which year you are in and what grade you will being headed towards. Then suddenly, you graduate from college and life becomes continuous. You lose markers. You are running and running and suddenly you look up and wonder where this strange land is where you have found yourself. It's a bit uncomfortable.
For me, writing is a marker. I journal almost daily as a way to keep my life in check. It helps me to see where I am- to put my thoughts in a tangible form- to stay rooted. It also gives me a place to look back and see where I've come from. Even my handwriting tells me a lot about where I was at that time in my life...
All of this to say, I'm feeling a bit old.
Markers! Interesting concept. I've never looked for markers, but as I muse on the concept I have to offer the following; that as we get older there are still markers. Not fixed like grades, but still there nevertheless, weddings, births, achievements, failures, deaths of loved ones. They all in their own way mark the passage of time, not with the punctuality of grades but arriving on their own schedule.
ReplyDeleteHmm...I suppose you are right. I do believe putting in place markers of our own (goals, celebrations, etc.) is a good idea as well, to keep us centered as we walk through life.
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