What is time? Time is the fourth dimension. Time is the numbers on a clock, or the days on a calendar. Time is a representation of the motion of our planet. Really, time is just a manmade illusion without much of a purpose other than explaining the difference between now and not now. So is it necessary? Not really. Most other animals accept the passage of time similarly to that of a toddler, only comprehending the fact that now is now, and earlier or later is not now. Yet being the sapient creatures we are, humans have created this concept with the hopes of putting a numerical value to the difference between this moment and another. Then why is it that we don’t perceive time the same way we measure it? Or better yet, why don’t we measure it the same way we perceive it?

            A claustrophobic is placed in a small elevator for one minute. How long were they in the elevator? Well, the timer says one minute, but to that person, it probably felt like forever. On the other hand, if a soldier is home with their kids for a month before returning to combat, how long are they home? Even though the calendar says they were home for a month, that soldier feels like it flew by in only a few days. Just because “Time” says so, does that make it true? It is my belief that, while we need time to organize our life and schedule our days, we have overcomplicated the entire concept and we ought to return to a simpler method of time measurement. We need to stop focusing on the minute details of time, and just lose a bit of the rigidity that it adds to life.

            Imaging a place where everyone got up with the sun, or thereabouts, and started their day in the early morning glow of the sunrise. When the sun was high in the sky, people would take a break from work, maybe eat a sandwich, or take a quick walk, before returning to their schedule. Then as the sun began to go down, people went home, ate dinner, and read a book, or watched a movie. When it was dark out, and they got tired, everyone went to bed.  Without any clocks or calendars, life would be simple, and it would be possible. In Ancient Mesopotamian times, this is what they did. They lived their lives according to the sun. They still got all their work done, but without caring if they took a sixty minute lunch break, as opposed to a fifty minute break. I understand that every minute counts, but that doesn’t mean that we have to count every minute. We don’t need to be exact, and precise. What we need is to live our lives, relishing the good moments and getting through the bad ones. Life shouldn’t be about being “on time.” It should be about “enjoying" the time.