It’s December Eve! The last month of 2022 is arriving! I, for one, am having a hard time with the last month of the year being in my face, right now! Once again, it seems like I just put Christmas decorations away, and now it’s time to drag them out again. Many in the neighborhood have been decorated for a week or two already.

And another thing — it doesn’t seem that long ago that I was shoveling snow, and here I am again contemplating dealing with that wonderful, delightful, sparkling, magical “stuff” that has to be cleared from the driveway and walks.

(Of course, I really do hope that we get a lot of snow to make a little dent in the drought. We were in the Las Vegas area over Thanksgiving and made a trip out to Hoover Dam. It’s a little depressing to see Lake Mead so low.)

It also seems like I just barely got my income taxes done for 2021. And now that wonderful, delightful, sparkling, magical job is lurking in my mind, as another year is waning. Well, wait a minute. Actually, I did just barely get that job done for 2021. That’s what happens with procrastination and using the six-month extension process.

I feel an Albert Einstein quote coming on: “The hardest thing to understand in the world is the income tax.” This from the guy who gave us E = mc2.

I think Mark Twain should be given equal time: “What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector? The taxidermist takes only your skin.”

Oh well, the machinery of taxes never ends. We just had our property tax deadline in Sanpete earlier this week. I didn’t mean to wait until nearly the last day to pay. But it happened that way.

This time of year, just plain seems to get here fast. Regardless of what kids think, Christmas rolls around quickly every year.

So, what I want to examine here is the theoretical concept that time seems to go faster the older one gets. I’ve heard others say this. And I say it too, because I really feel it. As the years go by, they go by seemingly faster and faster.

Since this has bothered me lately (especially when I contemplate being on the house hanging Christmas lights), I decided to investigate. I did what any investigator would do. I “Googled” it.

Lo and behold, I found an article in Scientific American that addressed my question. James M. Broadway (why didn’t he go into show business? — I wonder), a postdoctoral brain sciences researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara says this on our subject.

“When it comes to how we perceive time, humans can estimate the length of an event from two very different perspectives: a prospective vantage, while an event is still occurring, or a retrospective one, after it has ended. In addition, our experience of time varies with whatever we are doing and how we feel about it.”

“From childhood to early adulthood, we have many fresh experiences and learn countless new skills. As adults, though, our lives become more routine, and we experience fewer unfamiliar moments…we can alter our perceptions by keeping our brain active, continually learning skills and ideas, and exploring new places.”

What Broadway says is a little hard for me to grasp. But what I get out of it is that we can slow down time by avoiding routine and keeping life interesting.

He says, “Our brain encodes new experiences, but not familiar ones, into memory, and our retrospective judgment of time is based on how many new memories we create over a certain period. In other words, the more new memories we build on a weekend getaway, the longer that trip will seem in hindsight.”

So, as boring as that gobbledygook of academic research sounded, I think I got a message out of it. I need to spark up my life a little with new and fresh experiences. This is a little bit scary because, for me, there is comfort in routine.

It may be time to broaden my horizons in some ways. Maybe I need to freshen things up a little and see if I can alter my “retrospective judgment of time.” Maybe I can slow down time a little.

I’ve had an example come to my mind, which may or may not be on point. We go to Capitol Reef National Park occasionally. While there, we often take a hike. There are a variety of trails there. We’ve hiked the Hickman Bridge Trail many times. It’s a great trail and the “pay-off” is terrific upon reaching the large natural arch. It’s become our “go to” hike when at the park.

The thing is though, as I think back, there isn’t much that I remember to differentiate one hiking event on that trail from another.

By contrast we’ve hiked the Cassidy Arch Trail once. I have a strong memory of that hike. We’ve hiked Sulphur Creek once. Again, that is well remembered.

So if the theory pans out, new experiences break routine and become the way to fill our brains with fresh, new memories. And new memories give us a perception of time that is more rich and full. I guess I’ll have to get back to you on this one, but I think it’s worth a try.

As we plow into December, maybe we can attempt to create some new holiday traditions. Maybe we need to rejuvenate traditions that we’ve let die. Whatever we do, we should try to be helpful to others around us. By so doing, we will make memories for ourselves and our loved ones, and even strangers, which will be etched in remembrance. — Merrill

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