Time to Reflect

There are points in life when we seem to reflect on time’s passing; a birth, a death, a change of season, a change of life. Although “time passing” is a concept I find humorous, as we (the temporal) attempt to define or pigeonhole time (the eternal), it is nonetheless a standard of regulation in our lives, and one that traditionally outlines our place in the grand scheme. So, periodically given ‘time’ to reflect (that is to say is that an opportune moment, give or take 90 seconds), to gauge present with the past and consequent effects on the future has arrived. An opportunity in that past and future are far enough apart where the gap allows me sufficient “time” to reflect, something most of us lack. Time, some say, is our most precious resource, in that there is not enough of it. I argue time is our most abundant resource, all around us and inescapable...eternal. It allows all other things to be realized, comparatively. When it comes right down to it, we have all the time we need;  we are awash in it.

Subjectively, however, time is thought to be elusive and predatory. French Philosopher Gaston Bachelor spoke  to this common notion when he said, “ If our heart was large enough to love life in all its detail, we would see that every instant is at once a giver and a plunderer.” Time flies and time drags on. Relatively speaking, pun intended, a moving clock is a slower keeper of time, dilating our perception of this commodity. The faster you move the longer you have, scientists theorize...this coincides with psychological conceptualizations that the more we recall, the longer our life appears, while when recollection fails us, we perceive a shortness or rapidity of time's movement through our lives; and we tend to recall the exciting stuff, elongating that continuum of our lives. Oppositely, when we anticipate or painfully await something, it seems to slow time, or make it take longer; studies show prolonged waiting actually lessens satisfaction. Often referred to as temporal discounting, this reality shows us how a year from now seems further away than a year ago. I’ve learned much working in this industry and if I can say anything remotely anecdotal it would be this, you cannot escape the now, it’s already happened. Depends on your perception and temporal distortions.

It was another day in the kitchen and we were bustling getting ready for service. Time was flying as we ticked off the list and assembled the mise en place for the upcoming service. It was going well. Keyword, going. In a shake things changed, a toppled bain marie of cooking fat, in this case clarified butter, spilled onto a hot cooking surface and erupted into an inferno. Not good. Aside from the disruption of the time needed to prepare, this situation warranted the evacuation of the kitchen. Most people run out of a kitchen on fire (ok all people). It is not the kind of place anyone wants to be, especially when it's filling with smoke and flames. I must admit there's something anomalous about a Chef; a quality of temporal distortion whose calm and composure can actually slow time. It was rather bizarre walking down the line with the fire extinguisher in hand, slow motion, kitchen personnel flowing by as I made my way in.  The flames looked almost standstill. I wasn’t moving fast, but I was moving. And in an instant, with the pull of the trigger, “WHOOOOSH”, it was over.

“Chef! Are you OK?!? That was crazy!” The cooks began to comment as they re-entered.

“Sure, fine, let’s clean this up and get back to business."

"That was crazy! It was so quick and surreal. Weren't you scared?"

And with that the clock resumed.

"Quit your worries, clean this up...we got customers coming soon."

Measuring time is like weighing a pig to make it fatter. As if by measuring it, we could possibly control it.  Like marking trees on a trail we know we will never pass by again, time is best judged when aligning it with motion; clocking the movement of the sun’s shadow, the ticking hand of a clock, the rapid change of a digital chronometer. Those measurements only reveal the tick of the device itself, and (as much as we would like to think that device tells us of where we are in the Block Universe of eternity) only screams out the reality of “Now, now, now”. Can we change it? I think so.  Wanna slow it down? Stay calm and keep from exciting the temporal strings.  Wanna   speed it up?  Add some excitement. But all in all realize it is all still part of the same eternal block of space time that always existed. You're just changing you and your now in it.

So to get to that one thing I've learned, no matter how hard I try or how fast I hurry I am always exactly where I am. Time a predator...or elusive? I say, "No". Not so, Gerard.  If our hearts were large enough to love life in all its detail, we would see time for what it truly is, eternal; and we are therefore compelled to leave our whispers echoing through its vastness.