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This writing was accepted for publication in the 108 page perfect-bound ISSN# / ISBN# issue/book “All the Stories” Down in the Dirt v211 (9/23)  Order the paperback book: 
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Order this writing that appears in the one-of-a-kind anthology Instant Karma the Down in the Dirt September-December 2023 issues collection book
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get the 422 page September-December 2023 Down in the Dirt 6" x 9" ISBN# perfect-bound paperback book: 
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| Time, Time, Time, See What’s Become of Me
Janet Kuypers started 5/3/15, finished 5/4/15 The world now relies on their Cesium-synched watches so we can be on time to every single minute all-encompassing detail in our little existences, so we don’t miss a thing. Can’t let that happen. ‘Cause let’s not kid ourselves, we internally want to outshine everyone, including our friends, so we post our best photos on facebook, we wear that beaming smile when we talk to people, and as soon as they turn away our face stops acting like we ever cared. And don’t forget, we want time on our side so we can always look young... My husband took a photo of us from his smartphone from his birthday a month ago and uploaded it to a phone app that guessed our ages — It guessed I was ten years younger. Cool. I guess I’m defying time. (Then again, the app said my husband was sixteen years younger. Hmph. Well, at least the app guessed I was still younger than him.) Isn’t it funny how we can scrutinize ourselves by our age, by our time alive? ‘Cause I think it all boils down to the concept of time. We have to out-do everyone in as little time as possible. We have to cram as much as we can into what little time we think we have. We view this precious time as a resource, like oxygen.* We all need more time. But now I’m forced to wonder: does time even exist? I mean, I know we all tune our timepieces to stay in sync with the rest of the world, but our earth’s magnetic field affects how time exists for people. And for any time difference you want to write a story around, you can calculate the strength of gravity that will give you that time difference.* I mean, GPS satellites, because they are farther away from the earth’s gravitational pull than us land dwellers, we adjust the satellite’s time from space so it aligns to what us earth dwellers know. I know, I know, we decided to measure this thing we call “time” — was it when we as farmers needed it for crops? Was it when, we as cavemen needed it to know night from day? I’m babbling. I’m thinking about this too much. But the things is, a ton of people put a ton of work — and a ton of time — into calculating time, but it makes me ask again: does time exist? Or is it something we just made up to help us through our little lives? # Let me ask you this way. What is time? Tricky question, isn’t it. Is it something we use like a measuring stick to keep all of our events in chronological order? The Greek God of Time was named Chronos, which sounds a bit like chronology... So, we just try to keep it all in order... I’m going to a party later. I went to that party yesterday. This is a great party. So if time is really just a measuring stick, if that’s what it is, then when did it start? Did it start when the Big Bang first started this Universe? And if that’s the case, is it only that way because that’s all we know about our Universe’s timeline? I mean, does time exist if there is no one around to see it? And how do you see time anyway? I know scientists talk about the four dimensions in our Universe. Three spacial dimensions, and time. And when I look around me, I can see far away, and I can see up close. I can see above and below me, and I can continue to see all these things. But time, this elusive “time” thing, it seems to only let us see one moment in time. I can’t go back and relive the past. I can’t jump forward and visit my future. We try to measure time, but we cannot travel to different points in time. So this elusive “time” thing really keeps me trapped. And now scientists say that there is no “time”, but a single continuum called spacetime. Oh, now you people are messing with my dimensions. This, when I was wondering if time even exists. But wait a minute... People postulate time travel, and maybe we do live in the past. Because when it comes to your own brain, It takes a few millionths of a second for your brain to put together this moment in time before it gets to to your consciousness, meaning we’re all living a tiny bit in the past. And wait, we’re seeing into the past too — when the Sun’s rays come to us, that light we see came from the sun eight minutes ago. We’re seeing light from eight minutes ago. And when astronomers see stars from far away in our Universe for the first time, they’re seeing that light from billions of years ago, no lie. So, although I can’t jump into a future, I can at least say I see the past every day. And really, what is this time thing anyway? Because we now religiously check out Cesium-synched watches because we’re trapped by so much we think we have to do in what we think is so little time. Because now that I wonder on what time really means, the more mysterious it becomes. Maybe we should value every moment as it comes. Or maybe we should chuck our watches and turn off our cell phones and refresh ourselves so we could live in the moment. Because whether or not time exists, that’s what time is all about — living sequentially from moment to moment. But you know, ancient cultures (like Incan and Mayan) or ancient religions (like Hinduism or Buddhism) understood a wheel of time. They regarded time as cyclical, and we live through repeating ages — and as they say, history does repeat itself. So, if us land dwellers are forced to take our lives one step at a time, maybe we can remember time is one of four dimensions. Prominent philosophers scream that time is part of the fundamental structure of the universe — so, maybe it’s just as vital as how close you are to me. Time may be as valuable a resource, like oxygen* that we should treasure every moment like it’s our last. * Quote from “Interstellar” director Christopher Nolan, to Neil DeGrasse Tyson in a StarTalk interview, May 2015 |
