A Theory of the Speed of Passing Time

We’ve all said, “I can’t believe how fast time has passed. It’s kind of scary.” But I believe the speed of time is a barometer of how meaningful the content of that time has been. When we “waste time”, that time has, in no way, honored our life goals, or what we think important time should be. If we have a job, for example, that merely “pays the bills” but does not fulfill us, time will rush in and fill the gap of insignificance. And since it rushes in so fast, we perceive time speeding by, which “scares” us. Anytime we perceive something as different from what it actually is, we get frightened. And the misperception of time is, arguably, the most frightening of all. On the other hand, when we are engaged in an activity that we perceive as meaningful, time moves at a normal pace. We remember these times with reverence, with grace, with the dignity it deserves. This holds for quality time with family, time consumed with helping others, time creating art, time engaged in a hobby or pastime (well phrased), time in meditation or prayer, time in silence, time in nature using our senses, time walking to nowhere in particular. In the late 70’s, I lived in a cabin in the New Hampshire woods, absorbed in nature and solitude, (quite literally) “chopping wood and carrying water.” I had no car. I had no electricity. I had no

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The Healing Power of Nature

Faced with a new, demanding, full time job, my anxiety level is high these days. I’m grateful for the job, mind you, but I miss having the time to keep myself in balance in this off-balance world. Due to my circumstances, I’m spending less time in nature, but I’ve increased my awareness of the nature around me and beseech that nature–trees, grasses, leaves, bushes, rocks–to absorb my excess anxieties, relieving me of at least some of it. I ask this of nature knowing it has the capacity, and the willingness, to handle negative mental energies and absorb them without harm to its own processes. This is yet another reason we must protect the environment, at all cost. Nature heals itself and all living things that enter into intimate relationship with it. The key is awareness: Nature just needs to be seen and acknowledged and appreciated. That means when we walk through a forest

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