Calendars And The Art Of Time
What Calendars Do Time is the perception of motion.
More precisely, time is the perception of regular motion.
By "regular", I mean segments of experience that are somehow the same size.
This raises and interesting question: If every segment or instant of existence is special, then how can any segment of existence ever be the same as another? The answer is that no segment of existence is really ever the same as another.
Time keeping and calendar making, therefore, create illusions of identical moments.
Time keeping and calendar making, thus, are arts.
Creating Rhythms Equal segments of human experience are what we call "rhythms".
Rhythms rule our lives, literally by making rulers to measure consciousness.
Without a sense of time or a sense of rhythm, we would be lost.
The ruling measures of time keeping chart relationships between apparently different physical entities.
These charted relationships give our lives long-term coherence, lasting purpose, and enduring meaning.
Calendars, then, are timing tools that help shape the world.
Stopping The Unstoppable The many photographs that illustrate modern wall calendars make perfect sense, because they deepen the creative expression that already takes place in the human body's raw expression of time.
Photographs create illusions of stopping motion and time.
Motion, of course, by its very definition, cannot exist stopped.
And time, by its very dependence on motion, cannot even exist, if motion cannot precede it.
Making Harmonies Harmony is what happens when two or more apparently separate entities share a common structure.
Calendars create the common structures of days, months and years that enable different people to harmonize their lives.
Common illusions of time's equal divisions enable great accomplishments.
Expression In General We typically think of "expression" as the conscious exertion of emotions and the intentional exertion of energy to symbolize these emotions.
But expression begins long before focused awareness or strong intentions ever arise.
The human eye, for example, expresses the world as particular shapes, contrasts, and colors.
The human ear, likewise, expresses the world as a certain range of frequencies.
Human senses, in general, are expressing physical experiences in ways that are unique to human anatomy and physiology.
This level of expression is reflexive, preceding thought, preceding reason, and preceding any higher awareness whatsoever.
The human sense of time is likely a form of primal expression too, as is the human sense of space.
Every breath we take, however, enfolds a totality of existence that knows no absolute divisions.
Our calendars, ironically, celebrate this totality by attempting to divide it into parts and then to reassemble the parts into collections of static, symbolic artifacts.
© 2011 Robert G.
Kernodle
More precisely, time is the perception of regular motion.
By "regular", I mean segments of experience that are somehow the same size.
This raises and interesting question: If every segment or instant of existence is special, then how can any segment of existence ever be the same as another? The answer is that no segment of existence is really ever the same as another.
Time keeping and calendar making, therefore, create illusions of identical moments.
Time keeping and calendar making, thus, are arts.
Creating Rhythms Equal segments of human experience are what we call "rhythms".
Rhythms rule our lives, literally by making rulers to measure consciousness.
Without a sense of time or a sense of rhythm, we would be lost.
The ruling measures of time keeping chart relationships between apparently different physical entities.
These charted relationships give our lives long-term coherence, lasting purpose, and enduring meaning.
Calendars, then, are timing tools that help shape the world.
Stopping The Unstoppable The many photographs that illustrate modern wall calendars make perfect sense, because they deepen the creative expression that already takes place in the human body's raw expression of time.
Photographs create illusions of stopping motion and time.
Motion, of course, by its very definition, cannot exist stopped.
And time, by its very dependence on motion, cannot even exist, if motion cannot precede it.
Making Harmonies Harmony is what happens when two or more apparently separate entities share a common structure.
Calendars create the common structures of days, months and years that enable different people to harmonize their lives.
Common illusions of time's equal divisions enable great accomplishments.
Expression In General We typically think of "expression" as the conscious exertion of emotions and the intentional exertion of energy to symbolize these emotions.
But expression begins long before focused awareness or strong intentions ever arise.
The human eye, for example, expresses the world as particular shapes, contrasts, and colors.
The human ear, likewise, expresses the world as a certain range of frequencies.
Human senses, in general, are expressing physical experiences in ways that are unique to human anatomy and physiology.
This level of expression is reflexive, preceding thought, preceding reason, and preceding any higher awareness whatsoever.
The human sense of time is likely a form of primal expression too, as is the human sense of space.
Every breath we take, however, enfolds a totality of existence that knows no absolute divisions.
Our calendars, ironically, celebrate this totality by attempting to divide it into parts and then to reassemble the parts into collections of static, symbolic artifacts.
© 2011 Robert G.
Kernodle
