Tick tock. June 8, 2010.

"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once." - Albert Einstein

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Physicists say that scientifically, there is no such thing as “time.” But it’s a human experience. And even though the clock is very specific about how much time has passed, our experience of time is very relative. Time moves quickly (usually when we don’t want it to) or slowly (again, usually when we don’t want it to).

Time can be our friend and our enemy. The interesting thing is that those of us who are depressed or anxious usually don’t live time as it happens. We either live in the past (remembering traumas that happened to us, or on the other hand, longing for a time in the past when we were happy and carefree), or we live in the future (worrying about some future event, or daydreaming about something good that may happen in the future). People who are truly happy talk about “living in the ‘now’” and are at peace with that.

I find it extraordinarly difficult to live in the “now.” But I know if I could master it, I’d be less depressed, less anxious. Living in the “now” is called “mindfulness.” So far I’m just at the book-reading stage; mindfulness still seems impossible to me. Have you mastered it? If so, can you help us to do the same?