Monday, February 25, 2013

Crossing Time

       At this very moment, the last of my peanut butter has gone and my coffee is on its last sip. Evidently, Ive been at this too long, couldn't come up with an interesting enough topic, and now it's time to leave for school. Before I go, I would just quickly like to share that was some intensely satisfying peanut butter. I pity the soul who too, at this very moment, is on their last bite of peanut butter. Fret not, we can grieve together. At this very moment, there is someone out there who hasn't even risen out of bed. Bless their heart. And, there's even someone out there, across the Atlantic, who gets to sleep for five more hours. They can just go away, ok?
       My coffee (or as Callie likes to call it, milk with coffee) cup is now drained. At this very moment, I watch as mom is once again in a mad rush to get everything packed up for work. She never can estimate the amount of time it'll take her to get ready in the mornings. Funny how someone could be having that same exact problem right at this very moment. Or maybe even the exact opposite and instead of panicking, they were able to relax on their Monday morning with breakfast and the newspaper. (People still do that, right?)
       Time is a strange enigma. At the same time, we're all stuck under the same time constraints and rules, yet, they're so different for all of us. For some, 2nd hour Spanish seems to last forever, while for some 2nd hour Psychology seems to be over in a blink of an eye. While an entire continent is sleeping for 1/3 of their day, there are people, at that very same moment, who are out in the world experiencing new and exciting things and living their life. Sleep, it seems like a waste doesn't it? It never ceases to amaze me how different the world can be even though its basic principles are all the same: Eat, Sleep, Repeat. Every time I go overseas, I feel like I'm cheating the system. In Bulgaria, time being 7 hours behind, the days seem to be longer. I know that's physically impossible but I find it so incredibly exhilirating to know that while I'm out in the world, everyone back in the States is doing nothing, just sleeping. It's all about the sense of fullfillment.
       Yet, I never feel the same way here. At this very moment, I am up, I am doing things, I have finished things, and I will do things, all before my family back home has even gotten up out of bed. But I don't feel that same sense of accomplishment. There's nothing special about waking up when you're supposed to,  or feeding yourself when you should, or going to school when you have to. That's boring. That happens everyday. The fact of the matter is that, sitting on that plane, and flying across timezones, it's as if one can actually feel time shift by just watching the sunset during takeoff, and the sunrise during landing, all the while being awake through it all and witnessing everything. Not having to waste time, and knowing that the moment you get off that plane, it all starts over again. No time lost. Seeming like you've gained an extra day to live.

**In in no way was I influenced in the writing of this blog by my midnight reading of Slaughter House-Five and Billy Pilgrim being un-stuck in time. Though that sure would be cool, wouldn't it...**

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