welcome to the fest

I should note that I am appreciative of the time spent here. Not just how much, but the way it's spent as well. See, when I go on, I'm able to see succinct explanations of otherwise lengthy articles. Plus, I get to see the low down on opinions of the comic in short order. In summation, this forum offers the opportunity for an individual to gather information without breaking the bank. In fact, I could argue the -sole- reason this forum is so effective for many of us may be because of how we explain stuff to each other so effectively that we don't even have to waste the time on having everybody read a given article.

Time is something I've given a fair amount of thought to surely. Not even for praise either. I am simply acknowledging that one of the mainstays of our existence is time itself. This near sucks though because we are enslaved to time when left in the unawares of it. Yet, time goes on. Time heals many if not all wounds. Time is money. And, time is of the essence. So, give it time, won't ya?

I am perturbed and concerned for my state of mind given how much my time has been messed with these days. Many days will be laden with thoughts of how much death currently exists. I grow concerned every time I go to sleep that my dreams will be filled with such failures. Yet, they do not, and that is perhaps even further confusing. What am I to do? Am I never to return to normalcy? Or was that an illusion to begin with?

Strangely, if not paradoxically, I do wake up daily with "reverence for life". I "renew thy vision" practicing my meditation and dance and timekeeping. And I mean that straightforwardly. I have kept track of the past ten or twenty years of my life down to the hour and I'm coming to find that may be a dangerous practice in our present day world. Many can't avoid being scatterbrained what with our constant barrage of updates and notifications in today's workaday world and I've finally come to terms with the fact that, among other issues, being someone who keeps track of their time comes with its stigmas. I mean I will spend an entire day just to catch up on the events of the week and people will go "what have you been doing all day?"

I've actually grown tired of this being subjected to such silliness. I, incredibly thankfully, do not take this for granted or complain too often. I'm only in relative pain. My issues are existential rather than physical. Were I to be subjected to physical pain or the like, that would be different, though of course not sure how different. I leave yall with this. My life continues on, though we will find out in what direction!

-Russly

Thoughtful thoughts there Russly.

Time is a very weird thing or at least our experience of it is. A five year old experiences a year very differently than a 50 year old in regards to the percentage of the experienced life this represents to them. We all feel it, the years begin to fly by - here it is, already June when just a couple of 'days' ago it was January.

Also, time dilation can make an hour seem like seven when we are stuck in something monotonous but zip past when we are really involved. And get in front of a computer - you can kiss about three hours away in no time.

I once read a time management book that really helped me understand the significance of time. He said one phrase that stuck with me - 'time is your greatest wealth' - meaning that what we really want money to do for us is to give us free time to do as we please versus spending time making money. I took that to heart. I stopped focusing on making money and started focusing on making free time. It had a huge impact on my income - absolutely no doubt about that - but I consider myself wealthy when it comes to having time.

So what are we to do with an abundance? Invest in it and spend it wisely. We invest in time when we spend it enhancing something about ourselves - learn a language, improve physical ability, learn a skill. We spend it wisely when we take steps to reduce mindless consumption (tv, internet) and enhance efficiency. We also spend it wisely when we give our time to those we love and groups that matter.

I think Russly, it is wise of you to spend some time contemplating time. It is good to consider how our thoughts may affect our experience of time. "Is this a good use of my time?' should be a phrase we all consider frequently.

We all live finite lives and yet we don't all spend our time the same. Some people seem to spend their time so magnificently - they accomplish so many things - and I am not just talking about the people that get stories written about them. I am also talking about the grandmother who spent the day so wonderfully busy making things for the family, attending worship services, volunteering, counseling others and having time to gossip with her friends, read books and also crochet an afghan. That is a well spent life.

My goal with my time is to use it in the most balanced way so that not only are my needs met, but I have given a portion of it to the needs of others and to the contemplation of the universe.

Thanks for the timely reminder about time.

Glad you managed to get back to this! Today's strip especially has me a tad perturbed.... We'll see where it goes. Also in regard to my line about the ways death currently exists-- perfect example from yesterday. I am sitting there by the road and a mouse stops in the middle of a lane-- I look and think that it might get roadkilled. Immediately a car runs right over it. Having been right there, I get out and throw it over the nearby fence where there's dirt for it to return to the Earth with.... Anyway, as for your comment.

Exactly, one's attitude toward a 'month' or other such intervals can be relative. Makes me think of the birthday paradox and whatever planetary reasons for it I guess haha! I've heard about how time may be a bit of a construct, seen a couple memes on that count.

Technology can be so addicting in fact that I will on occasion stop doing whatever drugs for many hours just to keep up with whatever online activity. If there are laws around kids using drugs where are the laws for kids using tech, hm?

You have it spot on with the time preservation. That's exactly the way I think about such matters. In fact I've actively rejected a lot of people over the notion of time's value-- and, I've watched them squander their time since. :/

I've heard ways we tell a person's true nature is by how they treat animals, or technology. Well, certainly the same may be true of time. In fact often painfully so, which is why it's almost as taboo to talk about as politics, or, say, feminism. Hope everybody enjoyed their Juneteenth by the way!

I've heard of such people as well, yes. One lady who went to her seminary school and against all odds, did quite well, and unlike the other students, managed to do so gracefully... unlike most of them, who were frazzled by their second semester. Nobody quite understood why, but it was alluded to that basic time management was really all it took, or at least in major part. Being proactive with one's time and all that.

You're welcome! I indeed agree that giving a portion of our time to ourselves -and- to the universe often has a great impact.

-Russly

Ah yes, and death - the end of time, at least for the entity that dies, for no matter what might or might not happen next they have exited this timeline.

It is all around us this death. Witnessed or not. Your example of the mouse is a witnessed one. I think your actions were kind. Make something of its death - a funeral of sorts - didn't let it literally just be ground under the wheels as if it did not matter.

The other side of death is life. I recently returned to a statement that I had come across many years ago. 'Behave as if all life matters'. This is a very deep thought which often gets sidelined into whether we should be vegetarian or not, but really goes much deeper. After all, plant life is life too, so if you eat a plant you are killing something akin to killing an animal. We can argue the value, but if we really believe in the value of life itself then all is equal and any 'rating' is purely bias.

So, what is life. On the tiny end we have bacteria (we will leave viruses out of this because that is more complex than I want to go for now) and on the big end we have mega fauna, including us people. But if we break us all down we get to cells which have their own life and molecules which have behaviors and then even further into atoms which are wildly active - but where does life start.

And if I look at a living being and see a bunch of cells that are just a complicated apartment building of life, then what stops me from pondering whether the universe is in fact an entity itself built of galaxies which are 'cells' and stars and solar systems which are 'atoms' and us which are sub-atomic particles.

Just what is this thing called life? And what is this thing called death? And since we can neither create or destroy matter - merely change it on the macro scale or break it into its constituent parts or maybe influence an atom to take on another electron or form a bond - what makes us think that death ends us?

And why do we think? Why do we perceive past what makes us eat or drink or procreate? Why do we feel emotions past what influences us to survive? Why do we feel awe and contemplate grand thoughts?

And since we do these things, we who are created of stardust, just like everything else - why do we not also consider that everything else could have these capacities as well - down to the bacteria and up to the galaxies?

So anyway. That is how I have been wasting my time lately.

Now here's where it gets weird, right? According to the plant itself, we are actually -generating- life since the seeds in say, a tomato, are straight digested through us. Eating the fruit doesn't kill the tree. It propagates it!

However, you are still right. The ideal way of existence is noninvasive-- even the plants themselves get a chance. One layman I know fasted for over a month, right? The pastor actually told him about afterward once again being "glad among us eaters."

I can in fact cite one on the virus end believe it or not. Apparently, and I'm serious here, the same healing result occurs when you think either "I want a healthy body" and "I want the viruses in my body to go away" or something to that effect. Like, you can think in the negative about those weirdly enough.

You're asking the correct questions. I often ask why am I me? What makes me the current iteration of the universe? One guy told me something to the effect of us being multiple thousand universes all at once and at that point I was like can't we just, you know, decide on something simpler? Or perhaps that would ruin the fun. Who knows!

-Russly