Time is an invisible monster, sometimes hasty, sometimes ponderous, yet always eager to devour our opportunities, hopes, and dreams.
When we work or do unpleasant things, time slumps on the ground and there it remains, the ponderous monster, refusing to budge.
Seconds then pass as slow as minutes, and minutes as slow as hours, and as much as we try to push and shove time, we can hardly urge him on.
Ever noticed how slow time passes when you’re at work or at school or doing something unpleasant or waiting for your turn to see the doctor?
But when we play or have fun time is hasty – it sprints away from us before we can take hold of it and keep it still.
Hours then pass as fast as minutes, and minutes as fast as seconds, and no matter how hard we try to hold time still, to prolong our happiness, we cannot, for alas, he is an invisible monster.
Ever noticed how quickly time passes when you’re playing, or reading a good book, or travelling?
It is most tragic.
*
Time, the monster, has an inconstant appetite.
When we’re happy, it devours our moments before we can savour them.
But when we’re sad, time eats our sorrow with slow and lazy bites, as if to prolong our agony.
The sad man’s hour seems to last more than the happy woman’s week.
*
Time is too great a monster for us – we cannot defeat it.
But we can try to tame time through planning and scheduling,
Through setting goals and reaching them,
Through figuring out what matters most for us and what is less important,
(All things matter, only that some matter more than others)
And doing more of what matters and less of what matters less.
If we succeed, times becomes our pet.
A useful one, for it sets the pace of our lives and helps us determine what
What we should do and what we should not do,
By observing how fast time flows, or how slow time passes.
*
I hate time with all my heart.
And yet what would we be without it?
Zombies.
***
Got any time management tips?
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boy with a hat 
I wrote about time and researched the phenomenon behind time slowing. I guess our brains stop taking in information when we do routine tasks in familiar environments. When we are out doing something different in a new place, our brains go into hyper drive and time slows.
Love the poem!
That’s interesting. It’s a subject I’m much interested in, though I seldom have time to delve deeper into it. (The irony…)
You say it’s a poem? It’s a peculiar composition. It came out like this. Not sure what it is. 🙂
Prose…. 🙂
Really enjoyable read, you have a great writing style!
I blush.
And then I tip my hat to you!
Hi Vincent,
I think the human condition wants to use time as a Ruler. If time exists at all, it‘s magical, unpredictable and unstable, slowing down and speeding up at its own whim, regardless of our desires. Thank you for a thought provoking post, very enjoyable.
Pepper
I like your definition of time. I’ll think about it.
I tip my hat. 🙂
With all my respect, all what you wrote is very obvious and is simply a truism. However, the way you put is a masterpiece. One of my favorite writings from you. It’s like that times sometimes gifts you more inspiration, that shows itself bare to your readers.
People have been writing about time forever, but you mix the emotional with the practical. I like that. I think it’s good advice to think of time as a pet!
It is a sly, slithering, deceiving serpent.
It tricks you not with force but with its mind.
Alas, I am much afraid of serpents. 😦
I really like what you write. Following you now. I have the time to write something more, but nothing says it better than what I said at first.
We would be zombies indeed. Marvellous work, as always, wearer of hats! And I applaud your choice of illustration. I don’t think you could find a better visualization of this piece than Dalí’s painting, which I’ve always loved for some peculiar reason.
One of the first stories I wrote when I began blogging was about a man stuck in a horribly inconstant flood of time, whose quickenings and slowings far exceeded our own. It’s here, if you’re curious: http://andronocean.com/2013/08/16/out-of-time/
Hello Andron,
I’m indeed curious about your story. I will check it out.
I hope you enjoy it!
My favorite line, Vincent, is this: “The sad man’s hour seems to last more than the happy woman’s week.” because it sums up your whole point remarkably.
I’ve noticed that what you write is the most simplest of the truths, but the way you arrange your words makes it sound so… I don’t know… almost professional! As if you’ve been taking lessons in the field for a long time. Commendable!
Maybe it is Time’s way of telling us that one can have a lot of fun but not enough perception? Makes sense?
And oh, if you come across some time managing tips, be kind to share them with us? This Indian girl although is 3.30 hours ahead of you, is in dire need of some help there. 🙂
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