Musings On Disappearance Of Time: Whoa— Am I Really That Old?

I’ve been aware for some time of the disconnect between when I think events of the past occurred and the realization that they happened earlier than remembered. Time seems to pass more quickly now. It is a common thing amongst “people of a certain age” and I’m okay with that. However, now there’s a new twist in my life—how easily I get distracted and can lose all concept of time.

Facebook frequently delves back in time with photos, captioned “if you know what these are, then you are old.” The photos shown might include a wall mounted, rotary dial phone with a long, coiled cord; a cigarette lighter and ashtray located on the dashboard; a clutch pedal and manual shift gears; a highbeam button on the automobile’s floorboard; a quaint push lawn mower; or a cork screw. You get the idea. Well, frankly, those things, from my perspective, are relatively new as they were common in my teen years and as a young adult. Now if you really want to talk “old,” show pics of operators saying “number, please”; cars with running boards; refrigerators with just a “freezer” big enough to hold two metal icecube-maker trays and a couple of small containers; a physician sitting at one’s bedside with his ”mysterious bag” holding pills and small bottles of various elixirs; families sitting around listening to the radio; being outside all the time playing jacks, tag, hide and seek, hop scotch, shooting marbles; roller skating with clip-on skates tightened in place with “keys” that you wore while skating; using one’s imagination while laying on the ground and watching the cloud formations pass overhead. Those are the memories of my childhood. Hmm, maybe we real oldsters could join forces and do our own “Do you Remember” FaceBook pages!

Well, back to my topic. (See how easily I am distracted? Rather awkard when one can’t recall where one was originally headed, after meandering into a completely unconnected story. Oh well! )

I used to marvel at the changes my maternal grandmother witnessed in her lifetime. Raised amongst ten siblings, she inititallly lived in a rural setting and would recount the day they came into town, and took a trolley to Albany, NY. As dusk arrived, they stood in awe as the leading hotel was bathed from roofline to sidewalk with the glow of electric lights. She lived to see man walk on the moon. What a remarkable life span filled with inventions, innovations, life altering explosions of scientific knowledge, and the onset of modern medicine beginning with penicillin. The seeds of most of our high tech world of today were sown in her lifetime. Yet, despite her awe, she missed the simpler days of yore as she aged. She said time moved too swiftly to keep up.

I have to agree that it does seem that way despite the fact that I do very little. I always loved making TO DO lists and there was a sense of accomplishment in crossing off each task. Now they are still posted by my desk, with all kinds of things to do like sorting through, disposing of, donating to, finishing, or even beginning Something! But ah, executing these well intentioned projects never seems to happen. Instead, I find myself reading a book or newspaper, watching a documentary, having a conversation with someone and then almost always going on my computer and checking out something I read, saw, or talked about. I can be distracted literally for hours as one thing leads to another. A few years ago, I was amazed how quickly a year could zip by. Today, I’m shocked how quickly a week passes!

Perhaps I should become alarmed about this phase in my life but I think I have discovered a great antidote. I recently told a neighbor I seem to have found a new talent that I am exceedingly good at— Doing Nothing and worse, enjoying it!

So, cut me some slack. If I seem to be distracted or detached, not to worry. I’m simply enjoying my Zen place of peace.

Here’s to summer solstice and the lazy, hazy days of summer.