Is it just me or is it that the older I get, the faster time flies? Even though it’s a Leap Year and we have an extra day in February, I still cannot believe we are a full two months into the “new year.” Ever since the COVID lockdown, my sense of time has been off-kilter. Sometimes, days feel like weeks and some months feel like mere days. It’s as if my body clock needs to be reset. Even the changing of the seasons seems confusing to me—springtime weather in the middle of February, followed by a brief blizzard.
As March unfolds, spring flowers try to emerge from the soil, and buds begin to bloom on the trees, I will use this time to regroup and recalibrate my inner clock.
This year has already presented “storms and rainbows.” A dear friend’s mother died rather suddenly, and another friend and their partner celebrated the birth of a healthy baby boy. The passing of parents is something I am not prepared for. So many of my friends are traveling down this road and their description of time while processing the loss of a loved one is something I can’t quite comprehend. They describe feeling like time is suspended in air. While they are at once frozen, in an emotional tundra, time still marches on.
Similarly, as some of my other friends celebrate the birth of children, they feel like time will never be the same, measured against the gains and struggles of a little one, who at one time is solely dependent and then in the blink of an eye becomes independent, seemingly in front of one’s eyes.
Time is a mere construct that is constantly changing and evolving as we get older and, we hope, a bit wiser.
My goal is to stay present in my life so I can be more present for others. That is, not getting too consumed with what will happen in the future and things outside of my control. It also means not being consumed by things that have happened in the past. To be present is to respect the abundance and limitations of time.
What the last two relatively glorious and turbulent months of 2024 have shown me is that time can be fleeting and it is imperative to cherish those we have in our lives while we have them. As 2024 progresses, I have made a pledge to try to remain as present as possible. To savor the moments, those perceived as good and bad, and learn from them. I am also going to allow myself to be still, do nothing, and let time pass by.
As March moves forward, we can let it lead us along.
Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Fordham University; author of “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream”; co-host of the podcast FAQ-NYC and host of The Blackest Questions podcast at TheGrio; and a 2023-24 Moynihan Public Scholars Fellow at CCNY.