I spent this past weekend in Santa Cruz with 8 of my college roommates, a group of girls known as Bramasole (in Italian, “to yearn for the sun”). These women have helped shape me in so many ways, and it’s always amazing to me that despite where we are in life and the world, we are still able to come together and it’s as if no time as passed at all. Yet when I look back on pictures of us from Freshman year through this weekend, it seems to me that time is just flying. Four years of college spent together, learning, growing..and four years after college spent apart, trying to figure out our places in the world. Yet those moments when we come together, no matter what’s happened in between, we’re still those same 10 girls who randomly met during their Freshman year at UCSB, which makes those moments when we’re reunited all the more beautiful and amazing.
But why is it that as we get older, time seems to move faster and faster? I mentioned to one of the girls that I felt like there just wasn’t enough time in each day to accomplish all I wanted to do, and that each year seemed to be moving by more quickly than the last, and she said that she “didn’t really interact with time that way.” I thought about what she said, and wished that I had her wisdom for interacting with time in such a way to make it act more like slow, malleable putty rather than quicksand, but I don’t (not yet anyway). And then I heard an interesting story on NPR that looked at this phenomenon and interestingly enough, it has a lot to do with how we experience things for the first time vs. how we experience things on a daily basis. Turns out that when we experience something for the first time, it feels as though time as slowed, but once we’ve experienced that same moment multiple times, that interaction time appears to pass much more quickly.
Watch this beautiful video of people having novel experiences, and read the NPR story in its entirety.
I feel so blessed to have such beautiful friends to go through life with, and to share in all of my experiences, both novel and quotidian. So here’s to my Bramasole sisters and many, many more years to come!
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Mel’s birthday 20th birthday at Acapulco in Santa Barbara, October 2003
UCSB Graduation! June 2006
Bramasole Reunion, Santa Barbara 2007.
Bramasole Reunion in Santa Barbara at La Cumbre Peak, January 2009.
Bramasole Reunion in Santa Cruz at The Blue Dolphin, February 2010.
That is SO interesting to ponder the difference between the 'dense' memories of you first time doing something to the commonplace memories that your brain no longer deems important.
It is also a rude awakening to me when I contemplate the feeling of time flying by. If you choose to believe the theory described in the NPR article, then the feeling of time passing faster than you are moving could only mean that you need to commence to experience new things!
I will always think of just that when I get the similar feeling of nostalgia/fleeting moments; it is the perfect moment to start something for the first time.
I agree Kev…I think it's an important reminder to strive to experience the dense moments in life by constantly putting yourself in situations where you can learn and grow and experience things for the first time. When time seems to be passing too quickly, it really is the perfect time to start something fresh!
Carolyn! Did the friend that said that about time have blond hair, an obsession with becoming a Lord of the Rings elf, and a really crazy side that occassionally makes her jump up and down and shout new songs that just popped into her head in the general direction of heavenly bodies far, far away? 🙂
You know what I else I have to say about this post? AWESOME! I love us. So much. I love you girls and I love our connection more than words can describe. God has blessed me so beautifully to be a part of this circle that I better do some jumping and song creating right now! 😉 I love seeing our pictures. Can you imagine how fun it is going to be in 50 years to look back at all our pictures? Do you think they will start to include husbands and kids?? Wild. What an adventure that still unfolds before us. I'm glad we are venturing upon it together. We haven't officially signed anything in blood yet, but I'm up for it if someone else wants to suggest it so I don't look any crazier than everyone already knows I am. Maybe you and I could create some sort of nature ritual solidifying our friendship. You can write all the things that we'll say, and I'll connect with the nature spirits. Then we'll be set! heehee