Stuck in '04

Time is slipping by – faster every day. The weeks are like days, years like months and as I get older time just seems to slip by ever more swiftly. I know I am not alone with this feeling. I honestly believe there is some phenomena that is actually happening and it is not just a perception that we have. As a child I remember summer vacation seeming like years, now the kids are out of school and right back in before I even realize it.

One theory I had was that our perception of time changes as we experience the passing days. For instance, the first day we were born, our whole life was that one day. The next day of life we lived what would be two lifetimes as seen from the first day. Each day that passes shows us that our days are actually going by faster than we originally thought because our perception of that day is reduced by a percentage of the amount of time we have been alive. But the theory falls sort because the percentage shrinks as we age, so our perception of time should be slowing down. For example, the second day of life it was 1/2, the third day 1/3 etc. As the years go by, that percentage gets really small so it should seem like the days are in fact mostly the same length. But the reverse seems to be true – they seem much shorter every day.

My current theory is that time is directly related to the way the universe is growing at an ever increasing rate. This is probably not even my theory, I likely picked it up in an article or movie, but it does make sense. I think sometime soon we may actually be able to measure this change in our perception of time. I’m not sure what the rate is now, but I can tell you how it feels. In my work I have to type a lot of dates – mostly the current date. I keep finding myself typing in ‘04 instead of ‘07. Apparently, my perception of time is about 3 years behind where I actually am. It will be interesting to see if I stay stuck in ’04 of if I eventually move ahead.