What Happened To Time?

In 2019, we have lost the rhythm of our lives and we need to get it back.

You know how yesterday sometimes feels like it was days ago, and 5 years ago feels like yesterday? Although this phenomenon has been happening over generations, there are more and more factors in play that are creating a time warp which can be confusing, disorientating and even unhealthy.

Life is meant to run on a certain rhythm of time and logic.

There are two different types of time that we have used over the millennia to keep some form of rhythm in our lives. There are the minutes and seconds, ticking away, that are grounded in the earth’s rotation and orbit. The other type of time is the rhythm of our lives - when we sleep and eat, when we rest and play. Our bodies are built to run on routine and follow a certain rhythm of time and logic. It’s this rhythm that has been completely blown to pieces in our current environment.

There are countless factors that are creating havoc with the rhythm of our lives:

The internet and email have blurred the lines between work hours and home life. The idea of working 9-5 has gone and our days are long and fluid. Even our holidays are not clearly defined, and we are often continually working when we are meant to be at rest.
Smart phones have blurred the lines of time in many ways, in particular the ability to be contacted at anytime by anyone. As a child, I would come home from school and have time away from school friends to be with my family. The only access I had to friends was the phone attached to the wall in the kitchen. Now conversations, group chats (and arguments!) can continue all day and all night without a break in the communication.
Before foxtel, netflix and other streaming services, TV programs would alert us to the time of day. The 6 o’clock news may have indicated it was almost dinner time. Waiting to watch your favourite show on a Sunday night would allow you to feel the passing of the week. Now we can binge-watch shows for hours on end, without time being a factor at all.
In 2016 social media sites such as instagram and twitter switched from chronological feeds to algorithms. This means if a post is liked often, it may pop up in your feed days after it was first posted. This allows news stories and moments in time to be re-lived over and over, warping the passing of time. The old adage “Today’s news will become tomorrow’s fish and chip wrapper” has now become “Today’s news may repeat over and over”.
We are even blurring the lines of time as we are now able to alter our physical appearance with the goal of appearing younger. It can be disorientating when you see an actress who you know to be a certain age, looking 20 years younger than they really are!
And not only are many shops open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, online shopping now allows us to buy anything we want at anytime from anywhere.

This jumbling of time is damaging to both our physical and emotional health. As time begins to blur and run together, the natural rhythm that our bodies thrive on is lost. We are losing sleep, missing out on rest, and having no mental space or clarity of mind. It is essential that we create our own routines to provide the rhythm that our bodies and minds crave:

Go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time as often as possible.
Create routines around sleep such as reading before bed or going for a short walk as soon as you wake up.
Aim to eat meals at the same time each day.
Develop an exercise routine that you stick to each week. It can be helpful to attend some form of exercise class that is a weekly activity to insert this rhythm into your week.
Create structure around your email / phone / internet usage. Ideas may be to turn it off at a certain time in the evening, avoid checking email on Sundays etc.
Place some other enjoyable routines into your week or month that you stick to e.g. Saturday night movie night, Sunday morning family brunch, or go to the markets on the first Sunday of each month. Create your own special rhythms and routines that develop clarity in your awareness of the passing of time.

by Angie Black