The time from the final day of one school year to the beginning of the next seemed to stretch on forever. Every moment was unique—finding a bird's nest, competing with your brother through the forest, a chocolate popsicle enjoyed until the final drop. Winter holidays, as well, were a wonderful calm whirl of time, filled with joyful days featuring new toys.
What’s next? If you resemble many adults, you might sense that time flies by faster than you can comprehend it. In a 2024 survey, psychologists discovered that the majority of individuals perceived the holiday season as arriving faster each year, Christmas following Christmas.
Why does everything appear to rush by as you grow older? Is it feasible to regain that youthful feeling of time passing slowly?
Time is subjective.
Several factors likely contribute to the feeling that time is either stretching indefinitely or rushing by, according to Christopher Dwyer, a psychologist and researcher at the Technological University of the Shannon in Athlone, Ireland. For children, a year—or even just three months—constitutes a significantly large portion of their life on Earth. One summer holiday represents a significant part of their entire lived experience. Simultaneously, young kids undergo quick transformations, meaning that the individual who left for summer break in May may seem unfamiliar to the one returning to classes in September. Given the extensive evolution, it’s unsurprising that childhood seems rich and lengthy.
Additionally, children are encountering numerous experiences for the first time, emphasizes Steven Taylor, a psychologist at Leeds Beckett University and author of the book Time Expansion Experiences. “Novel experiences extend time,” he states. The initial chocolate popsicle must have felt like a revelation. If that day also featured a first visit to the zoo—highlighted by first monkeys, first giraffes, and first giant anteaters—then it’s easy to understand how it could have seemed expansive.
Kids aren't the only ones who can feel this type of enjoyable time expansion. Taylor remembers, as a young adult, falling in love and relocating to East Germany from the U.K. shortly after the Berlin Wall fell. “Everything felt completely different and entirely new.” I was studying a different language. "I was in my initial committed, cohabiting relationship."
That newness influenced his perception of time. Upon his return to the U.K. for a visit, “I felt as if I had been gone for eight years instead of just eight months.” Numerous events had occurred in my life. I had experienced numerous new things. My existence was incredibly distinct. I was taken aback that my friends continued in the same positions.
Dispelling the routine
This is the type of feeling we pursue when we contemplate slowing time: a feeling of completeness, maintained for hours and days. An uncomfortable method to experience a slowdown of time as an adult is to find oneself in a life-threatening scenario, according to Taylor, who has researched time-expansion events and discovered that certain survivors of accidents and natural disasters describe a significant deceleration of seconds during the ordeal. An alternative method is to feel so continuously anxious or uninterested that time drags on endlessly. This isn't what many of us seek when we desire a method to slow time down. Instead, we desire a revival of abundance. Experts recommend pursuing novelty as a means to restore that sensation. Embark on a journey, be it to a foreign country or a different area in your city; the abundance of fresh experiences typical for travelers can elicit a gratifying feeling of time stretching. Even attempting a recipe with unfamiliar ingredients can evoke that old sense of wonder—whether it’s Jerusalem artichokes or marsh samphire, you’re likely to recall the dinner more vividly than one where you prepared yet another chicken breast.
Ultimately, it’s the memory that counts. The feeling of time dragging out happens in hindsight when reflecting on enjoyable moments.
Making something out of the time
Dwyer suggests that finding a new hobby is a practical solution. Acquiring a new ability, whether it’s crafting spoons, coding a doorbell, or exploring oil painting, can offer fresh experiences that don’t demand as much money as frequent travel. "Make an effort to experience something different each day." I’m not suggesting that you should try bungee jumping tomorrow and attend Polish class the following day. "It doesn't need to be unreasonably original," he states. “It’s about shattering that standard.”
However, that originality must be continually refreshed. As we get older, it appears that many of us become desensitized to new experiences—they lose their impact, according to Taylor. “Within our minds, there appears to be a mechanism that turns our focus away from novelty.” When you enter a new setting, it feels incredibly vivid for several days, possibly even a couple of weeks. It's quite refreshing and invigorating. However, at some stage, you become accustomed to it. Your brain filters out its novelty. “It grows accustomed, perhaps slightly ordinary.”
Can one maintain the pace of their own existence and, in some way, rediscover its novelty?
Taylor believes that. "You don't need to constantly be on the move to make time feel slower." “In the end, it relies on your level of awareness, or your mental state,” he states. "Studies indicate that fostering a mindfulness state, which involves being open to your experiences, can also make time feel slower."
Maybe, with the proper focus, you can once more sense that fractal essence of youth, a feeling of countless small arcs—the day of the popsicle, the day of the bird’s nest, the final day of summer—for however many days remain.
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