Happy New Year! ‘Where has 2017 gone?’ ‘I lost all track of time.’ I find it curious how a subjective sense of time vs an objective measure of time can be and feel so incredibly different. Some hours, days and weeks seem to pass incredibly quickly. Others go on as if they will last forever. Our sense of perspective on time changes over time. For example, when I was a young child, World War 2 seemed like it happened hundreds of years ago. As I get older, paradoxically it seems closer. It’s as if how we perceive the time-distance is relative to how long we have been alive. The longer I live, the shorter the time-gap seems and feels to me. I’m intrigued by how some distant events in my own life feel as they happened just yesterday whereas some more recent events feel like they happened eons ago. I think it’s somehow related to how we experience those events emotionally, e.g. ‘Time flies when you’re enjoying yourself.’ Our perspective on time seems also connected to how far experiences from the past still affect us now or, perhaps, how far they resonate with what we are experiencing now, as if they set up a psychodynamic reverberation effect. Some say, ‘Time is a great healer’, as if the passage of times creates distance between us and the emotional impact of an event so that it no longer carries the same depth or intensity of feeling. It’s sometimes true. There is chronos time (sequential moments) and kairos time (pivotal moments). The New Year marks a point in time, a shift in seasons, a transition from- and thereby -to. For some, it marks a psycho-symbolic ending, a closing of a metaphorical door on whatever has gone before. For others, it holds a fresh hope to re-set our lives – a lot like the promise held out in the gospel. As the clock chimes midnight into 2018, what will the new year mean for you?
16 Comments
Sara Pearson MSc
30/12/2017 10:46:38 pm
New home, new life, new direction.
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Nick Wright
30/12/2017 10:47:53 pm
Wow Sara - that's a lot of 'new'. I hope it all works out as you hope!
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Sara Pearson MSc
1/1/2018 10:35:50 pm
Thank you I am excited to see what the future may bring!
Nick Wright
1/1/2018 10:36:19 pm
Me too. Keep us posted! :)
Megan Watson
31/12/2017 12:01:54 am
This makes me think about closing doors (on difficult times in 2017) and opening new ones (looking forward to new experiences in 2018).
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Nick Wright
31/12/2017 12:02:43 am
Hi Megan. Me too! :)
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Richard Simpson
31/12/2017 09:55:32 am
My perspective on Time has changed as I've aged. Now I'm in my sixties, my sense of Time has been largely replaced by a sense of urgency. My time horizons are much shorter than they used to be. There seems little point when the possibility of my not being around to experience whatever future I think or dream about. My priority is to stay healthy (and that is becoming more challenging by the year!) so I can be wholly open and responsive to whatever the fates have in store. The turn of the year has little impact on that. I shall be in bed before midnight! Best wishes to you Nick for 2018. And thanks for your ever-stimulating blog.
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Nick Wright
31/12/2017 12:45:01 pm
Hi Richard. Happy new year to you, too - and thanks for all your thoughtful and stimulating responses to the blogs! I can relate to much of what you are saying. I too have an ever-increasing sense of urgency...as if the proverbial clock is ticking fast. I'm also aware that, as I get older, my focus is less on the future I want to create and more on the legacy I want to leave behind. This blog is part of that legacy and I hope it adds in some small way to all that is meaningful, positive and hope-inspiring in this world...
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Srihari Balasubramaniam
31/12/2017 12:46:25 pm
Hi Nick..being a better version of myself in all that I do and all that I connect with..every day,every week, every month. Here's wishing you a terrific year ahead.
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Nick Wright
31/12/2017 12:48:43 pm
Thank you, Srihari. That is a great aspiration! I hope that, by God's grace, I will become more like Jesus. I hope you have a fantastic year too, filled with fresh hope and thrilling adventures. :)
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Esther Blanche Scheidler
1/1/2018 10:24:13 pm
As an astrologer I work with the different qualities of time...each year is different and as the planets move through our chart, so to speak, we always activate different aspects of ourselves. There is always something to learn and-or to integrate.
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Nick Wright
1/1/2018 10:26:13 pm
Hi Esther. Intriguing. Are you saying you believe that the movements of the planets activate things within people?
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Kerri Flanagan
1/1/2018 10:27:08 pm
I read the above, and reflect on how very much all our experiences impact our forward actions... thanks for the above.... I will work on the why and the how ....if I am responsible for a united workforce.... then what time must I make to allow this to happen.
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Nick Wright
1/1/2018 10:29:15 pm
Thanks Kerri. You may find this related short piece interesting? http://www.nick-wright.com/blog/space-and-pace
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Sylvia Lee
2/1/2018 10:07:27 am
Remember how you thought your mother was nuts when she said the older you got, the faster time moved????
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Nick Wright
2/1/2018 10:08:37 am
Hi Sylvia. I didn't think she was nuts...but I do have a better appreciation now that I'm older of how the passage of time appears to speed up! :)
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Nick WrightI'm a psychological coach, trainer and OD consultant. Curious to discover how can I help you? Get in touch! Like what you read? Subscribe below to receive regular blog updates!
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