Thoughts On Time

As I get older, I am often reminded of the saying, “The days are long but the years are short.” During our life journey, we can experience time moving in slow motion, especially when holding a sleeping grandchild in your arms. Yet, it also can feel like time has flown by when we look across the table and see our own child as the parent. 

Furthermore, as we get older, we have the opportunity to look at time from a much broader and more expansive perspective. Earlier this year, I reread the The Moral Imagination: The Art And Soul Of Building Peace (Oxford University Press, 2005) by John Paul Lederach. In it, he shares an African perspective about how someone isn’t truly dead until the last person who knew them has died. As he wrote, “Memory is a collective act by which people and the past are kept alive, present among us.”

This expansive perspective on time just stopped me in my tracks. I realized that when my older brother, my wife, and I have passed away, then my dear paternal grandmother will pass away, too. For, as best as I know, we are the last people who carry memories of her strong and indomitable spirit, her joy of living, and her loving kindness. 

This perspective also helped me think deeply about Lederach’s perspective on what he called the “expansive present” and the “meaning of the moment.” When we are willing to show up, pay attention, and be fully present, then time truly shifts from a clock based focus to something much bigger. As Lederach writes, “The past and future are not seen as dualistic, polar opposites. They are connected, like ends of a circle that meet and become seamless.” 

For me, this notion of time as a circle makes sense. In particular, when I think about long days and short years, I come to understand that life is one large circle, and that I am part of the circle. My past, my present, and my future are shaping the circle as much as the circle is shaping me. 

Then, during one of those precious moments, when I am holding a sleeping grandchild in my arms, I realize that my circle and my life are complete. For in that moment, we are connected, and time has become expansive and meaningful. And I am blessed to be present to the miracle of living in this moment with these loved ones all around me. 

© Geery Howe 2025

Geery Howe, M.A. Executive Coach in Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Organizational Change