As I prepared to wind up the year 2020, many thoughts bubbled up. Most year-end ideas in the past had been about reviewing the events, achievements, successes, and failures briefly, and then looking to the Future, about changes that need to happen, strategies to deploy to achieve personally and professionally, and generally plan the direction I want to steer my life toward.
This year’s thoughts were very different, as we, like the rest of the world, experienced unbelievable changes, some anticipated and some jarring us out of a dream-like existence. It led me to a more philosophical exploration of time and a whole new attitude about it. It brought out the long-buried Indian philosophy about time, the passing of time, cyclicality of time, and renewal. It also brought the reality of time’s gross physicality, moving in a straight line- divided into discrete years, months, days, and hours and seconds.
Today, the entire world moves along the concept of linear time even though spiritually and observationally, we know that time is cyclical, based on our planet’s circular movements and the planets in the universe. We know it by the arrivals of seasons and the sunrises and sunsets and moon’s cycles and their influences on tide and time. The only thing common between both views is that there is a constant movement.
If anyone doubted this, we just witnessed its integrity with the most recent example of the Pandemic of 2020. The previous pandemic known as the Spanish Flu was in 1919. (For those interested in the history of pandemics and their impact on population and economies, a fascinating article by Lawrence Wright in The New Yorker, July 20, 2020, covers the past briefly, starting with the Plague of Justinian in Italy in the sixth century in the Byzantine empire, and the 1347 Black Death in Italy, Great Plague of London in 1665 and so on.)
History repeats itself, as they say. So perhaps time in its normal state is aligned with nature and the cosmos and moves in cycles. Still, humans need something to measure it, so the linearity is an artificial construct. However, the way we perceive time has a significant impact on our worldview, habits, and mental health state based on how we react to the dominant concept of time in culture.
In countries with a culturally dominant cyclical concept of time, lifestyles, work habits, and related life stresses are very different from those with culturally dominant linear time. The idea of deadlines for work completion, the achievement of goals, or failure to succeed is taken much more philosophically than in countries in the Western world. Of course, globalization of business cultures dominated by the American brand of short cycle planning and strategies is creating a sea change in the native cultures of the countries themselves, dividing the new generation from the old, so it remains to be seen how it will all ultimately pan out. Even in America, the concept of short term thinking is under reevaluation by the titans of industries as they see and feel the impact on society in the widening gulf between the rich and poor. But if the perception of American power wanes, so will its influence. Based on popular writings of our time, it seems that it is likely to happen, and the economic power shift is toward Asia, with China and India emerging as robust economies. Time will tell!
But as I said, at the moment, linear time dominates our day to day living. We have divided time into discrete components, and the standard advice about time boils down to the quote below:
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.
Add to this the current popularity of Eckhart Tolle’s Power of Now, Zen, and its mindfulness. With a similar emphasis on the present by motivational speakers, you’d think that once something is over or has not happened yet, it has no relevance to our existence. Past and Future are distant and, therefore, irrelevant. But are they?
Time along Continuum
Past, Present, and Future are, in reality, moving along a continuum. There is no separation between them. Today is yesterday’s tomorrow, and tomorrow will soon become a yesterday. The only thing separating them is the cyclical movement of the day into the night followed by dawn into a day.
I am quoting below a beautiful passage from a letter my husband wrote to his nephew a few years ago. It had much appeal to me as it expresses how I feel and think about time.
Some feel reliving the past as exercise in futility. Some feel that the Future is not in my control, so why bother yet others believe in putting only the present on a pedestal. Breaking one’s life into three such compartments, to me, is disturbing the cascading continuum that our life is. Basking in the present is affirming here and now; gazing at the Future is to invoke anticipation of what is to come. Since it is unknown and uncertain is all the more reason to cast such a gaze. You are free to imagine and envision and dream what we could make of it. Ah! And the past, a treasure chest of memories wrapped in our young innocence. It is such an exciting archaeological dig. The thrill of uncovering gems, dusting off, and taking a second look. To reenact events and episodes in your mind’s eye.
Time and Context
Context also has become less critical in our current way of thinking. In our competitiveness and the race to be the first, the biggest, and the best, we are more interested in moving on to creating the next best thing in the present, to our advantage. We feel that if we get hung up on context, we will be slowed or bogged down, affecting the speed of our progress.
But Context is Important
The best definition of context is: “The interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs; environment, setting the historical context” (from google search) in which an event happens. Whether it is in personal life, politics, or society, an event is a reaction caused by something that happened. It has repercussions in the Future.
When we ignore context, we limit our comprehension of a situation and its repercussions, reactions, and actions. And more importantly, we fail to learn from the failures or successes of past events. If we had paid attention to the history of diseases and contagion in the past pandemics, perhaps we would have a better handle on how to control the spread and how to manage for a better economic outcome rather than reacting in panic and making up policies and strategies to combat it on the fly. We could have started public health education on how pandemics spread and how to “flatten the curve,” the current jargon for controlling the spread to shorten the pandemic’s lifecycle.
Suppose we thought of the Past, Present, and Future, not as discrete but on a continuum. In that case, we could minimize the damage, devise better strategies and solutions. At the very least, we would not have politicized such a severe and once-in-a-century event and perhaps dealt with it with more gravitas, individually and collectively.
History tells us that each past pandemic forced a break with the past and ushered in fresh thinking and fresh approaches to life, like the Renaissance era. People make adjustments to the new reality. It tells us to keep hope alive and take a day at a time. Life goes on!
The good news is that there is life and prosperity and joy post-pandemic, where optimism leads people to be open to change. Conversely, where people succumb to disappointment and cynical view of life (as having no control over events anyway), it ushers in a spike in crime and taking license to behave with irreverence for life and living. Historically, corruption, greed, and divisiveness intensified where the leadership was not clear, and people were set in their ways.
Welcome, 2021!
With 2021 starting today, we are on the threshold of a new beginning. We have a chance for a fresh start, rethink and discard what is not working. Let’s hope for the best and strive for the best life, individually and collectively!
Just one reminder, as you spend your days improving your business’s or your employer’s bottom line, also be mindful of improving your lifeline. Get a perspective in the context of your own life and relax! There is always tomorrow!
I wish you all a healthy, happy, and prosperous time ahead!
Happy New Year!