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Physics Week 1: Time

How about: 'Can we make time behave differently?'

There's this idea of liminal time - time between worlds, literally 'a threshold', we sometimes call it 'being in the zone' because we're sort of existing in our own space/time. I picture it as a space outside the linear idea of time as we understand it. Maybe it loops, maybe it spirals or moves in right angles. This linear idea of time is our own creation and only harnesses a single aspect of it. When we exist in liminal time, we get to see a bit more of its nature.

This threshold time can be a period of transition, say between ages 20 and 21, when the year seems decades long. It might a feeling of deja vu, where time seems compressed and rushing at the same time. Maybe it's when I study Sheng Di Huang, which has been studied for thousands of years and I wonder at the thoughts my ancestors had when they used the ancestors of this plant in my hand. According to psychology today(1), experiencing liminal time is a cause for anxiety, shame, and disorientation. This has been my experience when I'm trying exert my control over a strange time situation, instead of just going with the ride.

Liminal time may sometimes be in my control, like when I prepare for a meditation session. More often I'm taken by surprise by a strange space time, and if I'm lucky I can observe and enjoy it. Time has its own plan, and in our very closed space of humanity in this country, it's generally predictable. But when time's behavior is very strange and things don't go according to plan, well, that's why we meditate.


1. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-creativity-cure/201306/creativity-and-the-liminal-space



Comments

  1. pandobearMay 19, 2018 at 5:44 PM

    Hello CheekyQi,
    I am intrigued by the liminal time. You mention it can be similar to the year before you turn 21. The days are passing, but it seems the year's end doesn't seem to get any closer. I relate to this with the years caring for my mom when she had dementia. The disease itself creates it's own timelessness, a threshold of worlds. Maybe it's a threshold between worlds? I found that days would pass, weeks even, and we were in our own little world. It was when I left the house that my senses were bombarded by the physical world. Inside the home with my mom and dementia, we somehow created a loving, safe place where moments of joy were shared. Thank you for your post, it brought back some special memories that I haven't thought of in quite some time. But isn't it funny that I can go back in my mind and be in some of the moments. My mind or heart knows the way. Thanks again for your post.

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