For years I have used the phrase “time is flying by” to describe my feelings about various activities. My kids growing up, heading to college, graduating, getting married, and starting their own lives. Or great vacations that end too quickly. Even reflecting on a work anniversary and thinking, “I can’t believe I have been here x years.”
What I didn’t know until today is that academics have a scientific explanation for this phenomenon. To quote from a 2019 article titled “Physics explains why time passes faster as you age,” the author shared that there is a difference between clock time and mind time. Physics is at work here to explain the correlation between increasing age and the accelerating passage of time.
I am not much of a scientist, so the more technical aspects of the article and theories went way over my head. [Note to self: remember to write a post about my father’s disappointment that neither of his sons pursued a career in science, or more specifically, medicine!]
While I don’t know much about science, I know more than a little about social media. And when I say social media, in this case, I am referring to LinkedIn. Regarding LinkedIn, I am deep into strategies and techniques to leverage the platform.
This concept of an accelerating passage of time got me thinking about the LinkedIn news feed. I’m talking about the main feed of posts that you see when you first log into your LinkedIn account. Think about this news feed like a river of information flowing past you at a steady rate.
When you graduate from college, start your first job, and join LinkedIn, the “river” is just a trickle. A slow but steady flow because you don’t yet have many professional contacts. So, you jump in, learn to swim, and start moving with the current.
Your LinkedIn connections grow as time advances and your career progresses, and the news feed accelerates. If you are successful, you move up the career ladder at the same pace as your peers, and all those news feed posts about promotions and job changes mirror the rate of your career. Maybe you even swim a little faster than your colleagues, and time seems to slow down for you.
And then you retire. The next time(s) you check out your LinkedIn news feed, it looks like a blur. You are standing still (retired) on the banks of the river, but the current is raging faster and faster.
Promotions, job and company changes, rewards, and the accomplishments of your peer group stream past you daily. And yet your career and life appear to be standing still.
I’m here to tell you that, as a retiree and still an active LinkedIn member, it is an optical illusion. As optical illusions go, it is powerful and can be highly disorienting. Kind of like the world is passing you by while you are standing still.
Watching that daily LinkedIn feed, it’s easy to believe that I forgot how to swim. Maybe I have been swept below the current, gone and quickly forgotten.
But it is not true. Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.
I am still swimming, just using a different, maybe invisible(?), stroke. Promotions and LinkedIn posts no longer measure my accomplishments. I don’t post daily. But I am still getting “stuff” done. The “stuff” (there is another more descriptive term I could use here) is just different than years gone past.
Helping a new college grad find a first job. Mentoring one of my small business clients to start a new business successfully. Marveling (with a bit of pride) at my kid’s career advancements. And equally important, how I took a great hike with Sue (my wife) and Rigby (our dog).
All these things happen (with different degrees of frequency). They just aren’t post-worthy.
So yes, maybe that river of time is raging by me as I stand on the bank. And I (occasionally) catch myself thinking that my life (and time) have passed me by, and I am a forgotten relic.
Then I take a breath and adjust my thinking cap.
I still have a lot to contribute. I reflect on these new categories of accomplishments, and I get back to “it” (whatever “it” is for the day) because time is accelerating and waiting for no one.
Dan Troup is The Sunny Side of 57. He loves to reflect and write about life, family, career, and retirement. Check out more of his reflections on his blog site. Also, consider subscribing to The Sunny Side of 57. When not playing pickleball or hiking with Sue and Rigby, he writes a new post about twice a month.
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