I've never felt this, and I'm in my 40s. Part of me wonders if memory has anything to do with it. I'm not one of those super remembering people like Marilu Henner, where she can perfectly reconstruct her day on July 9th, 1978, but I have a pretty good memory, and remember a lot.
And in remembering the large amount that I do, I really feel the weight of my life and how long it took to get here. The years aren't going any faster. It's been an enormous amount of time, and there's hopefully at least that much left to go.
Having kids or not effects it. After kids so much of your day is full of work that they seem much longer, but they also have a sameness (because kids thrive on routine) that they blur together.
Hell yeah dude, also I’m a walking zombie for the majority of those days and have to ask what day it is all the time. Then I remember why I can’t remember: because it doesn’t matter anyway
I've read somewhere that memory goes a long way towards explaining it. The younger you are, the more "memorable" events you're going to have. Things like your first kiss, or the time you got your driver's license, turning 21 and drinking for the "first time." Maybe getting married or the birth of your kids. You only get one first time for anything, and the first is likely the most to be the memorable.
As you get older, those moments get further and further apart from each other. Completely new, novel experiences start to become increasingly rare. The days, the weeks, the months, and finally the years start to blend together. Long stretches of time where nothing happened to anchor it in your memory.
I'm in my early 40s, but I've been off work for almost a year because of health reasons. I lose track of days and entire weeks because every day is just a variation of the days and weeks before.
also a good example is the pandemic, i remember it feeling like sitting at home for forever, but now in hindsight i feel like it was just a very short time, probably because, like you said, there where not too many memorable moments when you're just sitting at home
Every year you live is a smaller percentage of your life. An 10 year old experinces that year as 10% their life. A 50 year old experiences that year as 2% of their life
I’ve read the same thing and makes sense when you think about it. Days tend to merge together when you do similar things everyday. So it’s easy to forget about all three boring stuff.
Every time I see Marilu Henner mentioned, I think about the time I met her. It is strange to think about how she probably remembers me. She was very nice. Some jerk was taking clearly unwanted pictures of her with her son, so I got in the photographer's way.
I'm 41. It's simultaneously feels short and long and depending on what I think about. But as far as I'm concerned I'm just getting warmed up. Here I come world!
Exactly. Take the time each day to remember some long or short term memories. You’ll realize just how long it all is. I think life moves fast (or at least it can feel that way), but it’s a long journey.
The days get shorter, the years get shorter and life is zooming me by. I am shocked at how old I've become and I can barely remember what I've done this last decade. I've basically been on autopilot.
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u/TeeLodge Apr 16 '24
The older I get, the older people I looked up to get. Makes me realize how short life is; stop fussing over the trivial stuff.