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The passage of time feels way faster as an adult, but, in the past, I've seen some people try to frame it as some kind of deterministic process and not a product of fewer novel and meaningful experiences, less mindfulness, etc.
The almost year now I've lived at the mini-farm went by kind of fast, but in many ways, it feels like a lot longer than the 2-3 years that preceded it when I was never taking vacations living at a crummy rental I hated.
So much of that feels like a blur.
So much of that feels like a blur.
The first several months I dated Mandy felt slower since we fell in love hard and were having so many special memories.
The early parts of my gender transition felt slower because it was like finally feeling alive and experiencing life in such a radically new way.
The early parts of my gender transition felt slower because it was like finally feeling alive and experiencing life in such a radically new way.
Before either of those, I spent 2+ years trying to help a prior girlfriend get a mystery illness diagnosed. She got really depressed and ultimately took her own life. 
That's such a blur because I was just trying to hang in there between that and awful dysphoria.
That's such a blur because I was just trying to hang in there between that and awful dysphoria.
The whole "stop and smell the roses" stuff, as trite as it may sound, is important.
Time will never pass perceptually like it did when you were young, but if you at least try to be present and take in special memories, it will counter it somewhat.
Time will never pass perceptually like it did when you were young, but if you at least try to be present and take in special memories, it will counter it somewhat.
Another thing really fucky about the perception of time is how different it can feel in the moment vs. retrospectively.
Bad experiences can drag in the moment, but good experiences are more likely to leave impactful memories that make you feel more time has passed.
Bad experiences can drag in the moment, but good experiences are more likely to leave impactful memories that make you feel more time has passed.
One thing that can falsely contribute a lot to the sense time is going WAY fast, though, are vivid memories always feeling like they were only yesterday.
It's freaky, but embrace it.
When you repeatedly recall memories, you basically remember the last time you remembered them.
It's freaky, but embrace it.
When you repeatedly recall memories, you basically remember the last time you remembered them.
With the way your brain stores memories, it's as if the "last accessed date" is read as the "created date."
So something you haven't thought about in awhile can feel like a lifetime ago when you're suddenly reminded of it.
But commonly accessed memories always feel recent.
So something you haven't thought about in awhile can feel like a lifetime ago when you're suddenly reminded of it.
But commonly accessed memories always feel recent.
I lived in Japan in 2004. It was the happiest time of my adolescence. I think about it a lot. Those memories never feel like that long ago at all. They never well.
That's freaky, because it makes it feel like time is passing SO FAST, but it's just important memories kept fresh.
That's freaky, because it makes it feel like time is passing SO FAST, but it's just important memories kept fresh.
Meanwhile, I recently rediscovered some books I hadn't thought about in at least a decade (the Rolf Heimann For Eagle Eyes Only and Amazing Mazes books), and it felt like I was digging up some long lost memory like an archaeologist.
It really *had* felt like it had been SO LONG.
It really *had* felt like it had been SO LONG.
Anyway, this is long and rambly, but I guess my point is if time feels like it's going by so fast:
- make more meaningful and novel memories
- be more mindful and present
- realize your favorite memories are playing mind tricks with you and embrace their illusory closeness
- make more meaningful and novel memories
- be more mindful and present
- realize your favorite memories are playing mind tricks with you and embrace their illusory closeness
