In Part 1 of this series, Jessica shared some thoughts on "new beginnings" and dealing with the past, themes that emerged from the book Zeit ("Time") by Rüdiger Safranski. In this second installment, she concludes with a deeper investigation into the book's discussion of Time - both its limited and infinite nature.
Fleeting Days
On September 27, 1825, the Stockton & Darlington Railway opened for business. It was a modest 25-mile stretch of tracks laid between Shildon and Darlington in northeastern England, built to haul coal from the mines of County Durham to the market towns of Darlington and Stockton-on-Tees (and eventually to the eastern seaports). Although small by modern standards, the construction of the S&DR was an impressive feat of human ingenuity and community spirit. The project was overseen by George Stephenson - the "Father of Railways" - and financed by a group of benevolent Quakers who united under the slogan "private risk for public service." The S&DR went down in history as the world's first public railway to use steam locomotives. Soon after its opening, the trains began transporting human passengers along with the loads of coal.
Opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, 1825 (from Popular Science, Volume 12)
There was an interesting discussion going on in the medical community of those days about railway travel. The debate was not about the mechanical safety of trains or the effect that inhaling clouds of smoke might have on human lungs. Rather, people were concerned about the "breakneck" speed of these machines - a speed of about 20 miles (30km) per hour. Many believed that traveling at such a velocity would have long-term negative effects on the body and could even be fatal. Doctors predicted not only muscle spasms, headaches, and dizziness, but also elevated heart rate, total organ shutdown and possible heart attack!
It is somewhat strange to look back on the fears of a bygone era, as nowadays we regularly travel on jetliners at speeds approaching 600 miles (1000 km) per hour with no major health repercussions. But maybe there's more to the story. Maybe we should slow down for just a second and consider the speed... of our lives.
Alles hat seine Zeit ("Everything has its time" - Ecclesiastes 3:1). Pen on paper, 15cm x 21cm.
Today, we live in a strict time regime of regulated office hours and limited moments for leisure. Precisely coordinated schedules of production and consumption determine our habits and desires. Deadlines dictate nearly every part of our personal and professional lives. Technology allows us to fit more and more into each day, so that it seems we can now reach further into the future than ever before. In a strange way, time becomes short and the days "fly by." Philosophers like Heidegger would argue that we use this lifestyle of busyness to avoid confronting the ultimate deadline - the deadline of our own existence.
Now, while Heidegger's point is valid, let us remember that strategically using our time is both commendable and necessary. If we didn't do so, we would never get anything done. Maximizing our time to achieve goals can bring great meaning to life, and human progress would have been much slower if it wasn't for people willing to make sacrifices along the way. Just look at the men who built the Stockton & Darlington Railway, or ask Dolly Singh what it was like to work under Elon Musk at SpaceX for five years. It has been well stated that "Dreams without goals are just dreams," and goals cannot be achieved without dedicated time.
Nevertheless, Heidegger touches on something deeper, something that remains even after all the dreams and glory and accomplishments have been had. In the end, living by schedules and deadlines does not buy us even one extra minute of time. The more we rush through life, the more we lose track of the moments that are worth experiencing with all our being. And maybe - just maybe - within these special moments, time stops... or can even become longer. Maybe time can be become infinite. Eternal.
Eternal Moments
The subject of eternal life is a divisive one to say the least. Many people orientate their everyday decisions around this future hope or "promise", while others wouldn't be "caught dead" believing in such a "fantasy." Wherever you may fall in this spectrum, eternity is here considered in terms of what we can experience now, today.
Local sign seen in Brussels (2016).
In the last chapter of Rüdiger Safranski’s book Zeit, he considers the possibility of a "magical moment" sublime to time, one that conquers the restraints of the fading seconds and prevails into the future. In order to get there, Safranski first asks that we reconsider our notion of time. He refers to Nietzsche's doctrine of "eternal return" to point out that time is not just linear, but cyclical as well, as portrayed by the clocks hanging on our walls. Therefore, time does not always just flee away from us, but it also wraps around us and dwells within us. Perhaps that is why some argue that time is actually best understood as a helix, which is both linear and cyclical at the same time. Just like human DNA.
“Time and space are modes in which we think and not conditions in which we live.”
That's a nice thought, you might say, but how do you actually experience eternity in the moment?
Well, instead of trying to add more minutes to your hours or hours to your day, try full-filling the time you do have! When you dedicate your full energy and attention to someone or something meaningful, you simply forget about time (and the sorrows, interests or obligations that come with it) and you build a bridge between time and timelessness. An eternal moment occurs when you purposefully and passionately lose yourself in the simple and beautiful things of life - whether it's a warm hug, or a sunset, or a symphony. This can happen every single day and it is entirely up to YOU when and how often you want to live in this eternal atmosphere.
Safranski tells us one more secret about how to experience eternal moments. He states that time can only really become eternal if you accept the fact that it's not all about YOU. Take a step back and realize that your own lifetime is part of a bigger picture in which your death is not the end, but rather the continuation of an ever-renewing process. In that sense, time is eternal, and we can be part of it for as long as we are blessed to be part of this world. Whatever you believe or don't believe about what comes next, one thing is for sure: the exact life you are living right now - with the family you were born into, the friends you make, the challenges you face each day - it will only come this way once.
It should be our desire and responsibility to shape and design the timeframe we have on earth as a part of the eternal “wheel of life” to the extent that our individual moments are meaningful enough in order to give purpose to the present and achieve a lasting (and hopefully positive) impact on the future.
...And if all that doesn't make sense, just take some advice from our friend Master Oogway from Kung Fu Panda:
