2010.
Seems unfathomable. Blame geeking on too much Star Trek episodes as a kid, but the entire time/space continuum is undetectable to me. All that is, is now. It is always now. Like being in a vast expanse, where everything could be and anything is and isn't until it was or wasn't. Think about the concept of time. It is a man-formulated means of tracking his own existence. A year is 365(.25) days on earth. A year is 88 days on Mercury. So the whole idea that time is a fabric that interweaves with space is silly. Time is merely a measurement of consciousness.
This is why New Years always catch me off guard. Especially new decades. Time is also a perception, an interpretation of one's experience based during trips around the sun. This will begin my fourth decade, the third I've seen the start of, and it's going by faster.
There's a reason for that. Think back to when you were a kid. Summer vacations, Christmas break, weekends. Remember how long they felt? Remember how the end of school felt like it took an absolute eternity to arrive? Remember how one summer felt like what a year feels like now? There is a simple explanation to the idea that time goes by faster as we age. It's simply because we've experienced more of it. Similar to desensitization. The more days we see, the faster they seem to pass. A day is still just 24 hours whether you're 5 or 500 though.
So while I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that the 1990s are now entering the "20 years ago" compartment, I'm also learning to be hyper aware of each and every moment to get that sensation of "linger" once more.
Of course this is a popular time of year to set goals and plans for the year ahead, many seem to view January 1st as a fresh start and a clean slate. Let me tell you, it isn't. Shit that troubled you on December 31st will still be there January 1st. Problems, quirks, habits, addictions, a fat ass, not knowing how to speak some funky language... all there. It carries over. What is a clean slate, however, is now. I guess a new number temporarily motivates some to change someway. But if you want to lose weight, put down the fork now. If you want to save money, stop buying useless shit now. If you want to make a difference, act now.
Hence why resolutions are (to me) useless. My only goal on any January 1st is to make the upcoming year better than the last. I started doing this in 2007. And so far, 08 was better than 07, 09 better than 08, and thus I plan for 10 to be better than 09.
This also kind of goes back to how I never want to have my best day/year/time. Once you've peaked, that's the absolute highest you can get. That's it. Everything else is downhill and not as good as "that". So what are you doing after you peak? Waiting for death? That's how I see it.
All that said, I'm really looking forward to 2010.
...By the way. The world isn't ending in 2012. Just sayin.
