Slowing Down Time: the End of Summer
straddling two places at once
Hello Friends!
Autumn is in the air. The crickets know summer is aging and every evening their farewell chorus rings out in earnest. In the quiet of dusk it’s one of my favorite late August sounds.
At this time of year I like to take stock of what I’ve accomplished and what still remains on my list of goals. Despite a few setbacks in the first four months of 2024, I’m pleased with what I was able to move into the completed column. I’ve chosen to focus on the positive. There is enough negativity out there in the wide world and adding my own only hampers my goals, and I need to nourish them as much as possible.
Reflecting On
the end of summer, a memory
When the sun dipped under the horizon and cast the last of its honeyed rays along the harbor, the breezes swept over my skin, cool in the late afternoon. Goosebumps rose along my wet arms and legs as I emerged from the gentle waves. In the hills above, colorful patio lanterns glimmered in the trees and laughter carried along the evening air. Smoke from grills on the decks of bungalows filled me with suppertime anticipation while smells of barbecue drifted towards my nose.
At the picnic table I munched corn on the cob while my tanned skin cooled. A thrill tickled my stomach. Moths flew too close to our candle flames and I waved them away wondering where in the thick trees they might land. I too was taken by surprise at the difference between the hot afternoon sun and the chill of the darkening hours. I straddled two places at once: half of me still lived on the beach while the other half longed for a different place where autumn reigned.
The pull of these forces caused an ache in my soul: a desire to remain in childhood fascinated by minnows and baby horseshoe crabs, filling buckets with seawater in the hopes of keeping my collected creatures alive, and my desire to grow, to become a woman, to find wisdom, love and purpose. I was a young teenager on this particular summer evening, but I remember many days like this, and the pull of these forces still remains, but my focus has shifted.
The Heart of It
The tug of the liminal space happens on many levels during the hour, the day, the month, the year. The changing of the seasons reminds us how important these in-between times are, how we are always in the midst of change. But when we stop and reflect on the past and the future, we realize how important the now is. Trying to be present in our daily lives is a challenge because we are alway making plans, thinking of what we need to accomplish next, and what the next day will bring.
I read an article this week about how to slow down time. Of course, we can’t really do this, but we can trick ourselves into making it feel that way. The idea was to create denser memories by doing even small things differently. This makes your brain work harder to record the world around you. When you’re young, everything is new, so time appears to move slowly because your brain hasn’t yet figured out how the world works. As you age, you do the same things over and over the same way and your brain is responding by rote thus time seems to pass more quickly. Here is the link to the article: Want To Feel You’re Living a Longer Fuller Life?
The liminal days of change are approaching, when we feel autumn brushing up against summer. The sun disappears earlier and earlier, and leaves yellow in the cooling nights. Soon we’ll experience the happy return of apples and pumpkins and the scent of cinnamon buns at our local farm stands. Opportunities to slow down time are everywhere. In the coming days my goal is simply this: to choose to experience every nuance of nature and to see, hear, and touch the world around me with the curiosity of my childhood self.
How about you? Will you join me in slowing down time?
Enjoy every little experience,
Jan
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I love the promise of changing seasons. Your suggestions for slowing down time sound good; I’m going to try doing some things differently.