Where did time go? Actually, where did the year go?

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As a little twirp of a kid, I thought time passed on rusty bearings. It seemed it was never time for recess, or the trip to the zoo took forever, or I was always waiting in lines. Nothing happened as quickly as I wanted. I'm guessing we've all felt the same way as children. We want to race around and have fun, yet time slumps past at the speed of a snail. And our parents are completely unaware--actually, they always tell us to slow down! Yup, for a kid, a single day could be measured on a yearly calendar.

However, as we age we gain new perspective. I'm not entirely sure why, though. Is it because of a growing wealth of experience? Is it because we slow down ourselves and our perception of things slows down as well? I'm not sure, but I couldn't even chase time down with a stopwatch now--the hours flitter past and are gone before I even notice. There's not enough time for what I want to accomplish. So, what happened? Did the universe rearrange itself in the last forty years? I'm inclined to think it has.

If the speed of light is relative to the observer, then is time as well? Physics agrees, but I'm talking about perception and not math. When you're busy, time flies, but when you're bored then time crawls. It's seemingly all about how engaged your mind is during your tracking of time. The more I study the phenomenon of time, the more I believe we could actually stop time if we wanted; watch a raindrop splatter against a windshield, or tap a butterfly between flaps of its incredible wings. Sure, I'm imagining, but why not? Wouldn't it be neat to slow time to an actual crawl and walk between the blinks of the world?

- M