As part of his theory of relativity, Albert Einstein developed the idea of gravitational time dilation, essentially theorizing that the way time is perceived is directly impacted by gravitational pull. The more gravity pulls on an object, the slower time is perceived. The inverse is also true.
I mention this because I am concerned that there is something wrong with the gravitational field around me.
I can’t keep my days straight to save my life. Time seems to be jumbled and normal time markers, like seasonal changes, are offering no help.
For example, our company is having its holiday meal next week. To me it feels like we just celebrated Thanksgiving. I probably have Turkey Day leftovers in my fridge somewhere and there may be cranberries on the items in my dishwasher.
Where did that time go? Why does the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas seem to have been cut in half.
I haven’t bought a single Christmas gift and it feels like Santa may be on my roof as I type this.
My coworkers express that they are having the same foggy perceptions. In our newsroom, which relies on daily deadlines, it never quite feels like the day of the week it actually is. It’s just a blob of workdays smushed together.
And its not just days of the week that are out of whack.
It seems like it gets darker earlier than in winters past.
The leaves seemed to turn very late in the season this year and then immediately fell from the trees.
Anymore, it seems like winter never involves prolonged cold stretches, but at the same time the summer months seem shorter.
Events that feel like they happened two months ago actually happened last year. Other things seemed to have occurred during COVID, but in fact took place in the last six months.
It’s almost impossible to quantify, other than to say that it seems like the perception of time in my life right now is very skewed.
As we talked about it in the newsroom we circled around that fact that the pandemic seems to have warped the entire timeline of life.
Stores that used to be open 24 hours never returned to that schedule. Restaurants change the days they are open, or sometimes close on a random day because of staff issues.
Government meetings all used to always start at 7 p.m., but now begin anywhere between 5-7:30 p.m. and occasionally are held during the workday. They are also held on a much looser calendar basis, frequently being rescheduled because of vacations, minor holidays or even sporting events.
The cancellation of concerts and other gatherings used to be exceptionally rare, but now such events are called off all the time and people don’t bat an eye.
More people work from home. More students learn remotely. Fewer people physically walk into stores and banks.
It seems to me that the routine of the modern American is eroding and with it, possibly, our perception of time.
COVID showed us that many of our habits could be tweaked. Groceries could be delivered, classes could take place online and work meetings could take place over Zoom.
Commercial businesses found that consumers would adjust to changing hours and employers found that workers could be trusted to meet deadlines from home.
Meetings could be canceled. Sporting events could be held in empty stadiums. Shopping could be done online at midnight.
Nothing is set in stone anymore, but the flip-side of that is that is that we lose some of our weekly, monthly and annual time markers.
If we don’t always grocery shop on Tuesday night, that day of the week no longer has a benchmark. Streaming television programs can be watched any time, meaning Thursday night is no longer blocked off to watch Cheers.
When you go on vacation, at some point you have no idea what day it is because you aren’t getting up and going to work. Because you are free to do what you want each day, the concept of a weekend disappears and each day is a blank slate.
To some extent I think that’s what has occurred with the perception of time in this post-COVID world. I think chipping away some of the routines in life has made it easier to lose track of time.
-Chad Williamson is the managing editor at the Journal-Tribune