Over the arc of our lives, it can be complicated and even get a bit muddled with the introduction of gray hair. At a recent workplace going away party, a British gentleman was recounting his time in America as he prepared to head back across the pond. He opened his remarks with the statement that "time is measured in people". This got me thinking on two points; 1. in all his time here, we were unsuccessful in getting him eliminate that dreadful accent and speak proper English and 2. we all have different ways in how we mark time. You probably need to go back and read No. 2 again, because No. 1 is still on your mind. Relax, a bit of banter is authorized. When you think back and count time, how is it cataloged in your mind? Is it with a location, type of work, earnings, housing situation, quantity of children or as my British friend stated, by people. I bounce around through several of these options as I recount my life and I often get people mixed up for the time period I knew them. Although, I do try to connect a familiar face with other faces that we would have had in common to give me a chance at a connection. Did I know them in High School, the Navy or the first job out of the service; and in some cases, I get to display humility and just ask. Time may be measured by a new Christmas ornament, pets, a mark on the door frame, tattoos, or the yellowed pictures in a box under the bed. A former Navy boss and his family would track their history by adding another duty station location to a wall decoration prominently hanging in the kitchen. As I reflect, I would have to say that people are what I most strongly remember and therefore the Brit was right, but let's just keep that between you and me.
How does your mind best catalog memories? How are your senses brought to bare to measure time? What are your family traditions to mark time? How do you intentionally measure time?