“Life is hard. After all, it kills you.”

–  Katharine Hepburn

 

 

Science confirms what I’ve been feeling for ages…that is, when one’s days are filled with lots of different activities, places and people, time passes in a different way. It’s ‘thicker’ somehow.  Science tells us that this is because we measure time by how many memories we pack into our brain.

I’ve especially noticed this on trips. There you are in a foreign land, where every activity is a new frontier. Something as simple as ordering a coffee requires new language and navigating a different system. Each minute of every day is filled with things you’ve never seen or done or experienced before.

Plus, because we’re somewhere new, we all tend to jam in a few more things than usual because we don’t know when we’ll next be in (fill in the blank, Paris, London, Dubai, a bar in the Yukon …). As a result, after only a week away, time will have expanded and it will all feel much longer than usual, but in a really good nourishing, fill-you-up, I-love-my-life kind of way.

I’m really beginning to think this is the secret to a long life; tons of newness.

Because here’s the deal; life eventually kills us. It’s kind of kooky like that. But between the beginning and the end, I think our job is to dig into life and make it as nourishing and rich as possible.

Life isn’t just about years, it’s about life in those years. The goal isn’t a big chronological number so much as it is to feel like we really lived while we were alive. The key is to seek novelty.

 

 

I think that’s why I already feel like I have lived in Kimberley a long time.

After we moved here in June, we had to figure out the basics, right down to where we’d put the forks and knives. Then, lots of different friends came to visit. Together we explored all the new-to-us area.

 

 

In August, I went on my bike trip in Eastern Oregon …

 

 

…where, you guessed it, we experienced all things bright and wonderful while our muscles burned.

This was closely followed by our trip to France for the month of September which included a 150-kilometre walk, something guaranteed to expand time because human-powered experience slows everything.

 

 

So, when I think back over the four and half months we’ve lived here…well, I’ve got a lot of different memories to draw on. Consequently, it feels like we’ve been here much longer than the calendar shows.

So yes, keeping things fresh and new is good, but this doesn’t mean we have to book a flight to accomplish this deeper and richer life. All any of us have to do is break up our routine. Get out of the rut. Bust a new groove.

For instance, I’ve joined the community choir. Reading music has fired up all those long ago piano lesson synapses (thanks Mom) and I’m loving the group singing.

We’ve been exploring new landscapes and trails and destinations and making new friends as we navigate our neighbourhood.

Somehow I’m also learning all sorts of new things with my new, and totally unexpected, part-time job in The Grater Good kitchen store. I’m still not quite sure how that happened (did I mention I’m trying to say yes to just about everything?)

I’ve joined the Kimberley Arts @ Centre 64 and am meeting other artists doing wonderful different things with textiles and embroidery which has sparked new projects and creativity.

Horseback riding lessons are in the works and when the snow starts flying there will be all sorts of new activities and learning.

Meanwhile, my ongoing meditation practise always makes time slow down. Trust me, thirty minutes feels like all the time in the world when you’re sitting still and trying not to think.

And then there’s the ongoing Spanish lessons with my little DuoLingo app. Buenas Dias!

As much as I know all this stuff about newness and learning and the wonders of time, I was still a little nervous about shaking up our life with the move here. After all, I loved Sechelt and all the people in our little coastal town.

But I’ve always been a voracious reader, and all readers know that there’s nothing like flipping the page to start the next chapter. How else do you find out what’s going to happen next?

And writers know you have to throw your protagonist into unexpected situations so you can find out what she’s made of. And what holds true in fiction, dear readers, holds true in life.

So now, here’s my question for you: What have you done lately to shift things up in your life? And did you feel like time stretched and expanded as a result? 

 

 

 

PS: Here’s a few other articles if you want to dig deeper into the science of expanding your life.

Psychology Today – How to Slow Down Time 

How to Trick Your Brain into Thinking Your Day is Longer

Wiki How – How to Slow Down Time