What percentage of the population has thought with valid depth about the difference in hues of the same colour? What percentage has contemplated the varying tones within each note? How many have the ability to discern between wines of the same brand? Between species of salamanders? Between the validity of astrophysics equations? Between different categories of generosity? Are these things that we all analyze whether we have the vocabulary to discuss them or not, or are these things that only certain people discover and delve into? (Is this the best question to ask on a rainy Sunday afternoon?).
I bring all of this up because I am thinking of it relative to age. There are studies that show that our perception and analysis of our environments is what affects our perception of time. Children are constantly encountering new concepts and learning. Thus, their days seem far longer. The older we get the less we are having to attempt to comprehend on a daily basis (especially those who seek to stay comfortable and not challenge their bodies or their minds or their comfort levels). For this reason, if our lives were mapped out based on our perception of time as opposed to the standard linear measurement of time, we would be reaching the middle of our lives in our early twenties. But what if we never stop attempting to see things (politically, socially, environmentally, literally, mystically, etc.) from new angles? Wouldn’t travel help with this equation? If so, I may have pushed my middle age to my late twenties and I should sporadically blame Wal Mart for not challenging me even further with new environments and encouraging premature aging.
I just realized, in the midst of writing this mental slur, that this may be a blog of encouragement to fans who would like to become groupies and travel all over the place. Here is my statement to you: if you come on the road, the food may cause you literal premature aging in the linear sense, but traveling and encountering a wide array of situations and people may give you far more extra years in the non-linear sense.
Okay…see you there.
M. Sommer