On Traveling Through Time

Life as a time traveler is probably a lot less glamorous than most people expect. I mean, thanks to all the pop culture icons like Doctor Who or Jules Verne or the Avengers, the expectation is that we all just flip some cool little levers or set the WABAC machine for the year 2525 and pop on over for tea and laser beams. But the truth is nowhere near as interesting - or at least needs a lot less CGI.  

For example, did you know that you are a time traveler, too? Seriously. Here, I’ll show you. 

There. You just time-traveled. And....you just did it again. And again! Every second that ticks by is you, a mortal being of flesh and blood, moving forward through time by the mere power of your connection to that most-elusive fourth dimension. Oh, time has you, my friends, and second by second, minute by minute, you’re just careening through the universe like it was a quantum highway and you’ve got a full tank of gas.  

Oh, what’s that? You don’t think that’s actual time travel? Well, I stand here to tell you that it is. For example. Take a nap. You just jumped forward an hour! Go to sleep – you just time traveled 8 hours into the future!  

And it gets better. Time travel is not structured solely to address forward mobility – or even physiological displacement. Time travel – especially in a lot of old novels – includes mentally traveling to times forward and backward. Or, in other words, seeing the past, seeing a possible future without ever leaving the comfort of your own home. Just this morning I was thinking back on old friendships from high school. It was like I was actually there – thankfully, since I was just watching the past, I was incapable of changing the events that occurred, because as anyone who’s spent time time traveling will tell you, paradox is the main concern. 

And I have often envisioned a future which may or may not come to pass. I mean, it’s the future. There are variables. Chaos theory does promise that due to incalculable possibilities, It's almost impossible to predict exactly what the future might be like, but that’s half the fun, right? The closer the moment, the easier it is to imagine it. And viewing a time without physically being there? Still a form of time travel. 

The older I get – correction, the more time I travel through – the more I have to reflect on; the more I find myself wandering through memories or imagination. And I find myself torn between traveling back or traveling ahead. I couldn’t even tell you which I like more; they’re both great places to visit. All the things that I’ve seen or experienced that brought me to the place I am, right now, right here. And what will happen next? I can’t even tell you with any degree of certainty, and, to be honest, I’m fine with that. Spoilers, you know?  

So, yeah. I’ve been traveling through time for more than fifty years – mostly without even paying attention to it. And, even better? I just traveled with you for about four or five minutes, and we took that trip together. It’s been a fun little trip, I think. I probably talked way too much, but I promise not to do that if we time travel together again. Thank you for coming along with me.  

But I forgot to put on the music. That’s on me. Next time, though, okay?