To get a grip on Calendar Time, we’ll first round out and sum up Psychological Time. Then we’ll introduce Calendar Time, and compare the two together.
- Time in the technical or broad sense is none other than thoughts of Yesterday and Tomorrow currently processing at the surface of my mind.
- Time in the distressed sense points to negative-charged thoughts since they impacted my life the most (that loud ticking clock on the wall). My perception of the space around me compresses, and life feels heavier and longer than usual as I look for an ending to this timeframe.
- Time in the free-flowing sense points to positive-charged thoughts, or the wondrous internal experience far away from feeling distressed. This perception manufactures a ‘greater spacious sensation’ from the pleasure centre. The downside is that it is always only ever short-lived.
Introducing Calendar Time (Aka Physical Time)
When not referring to the measure of psychological activity, Time reverts to its traditional context of Calendar, Planetary or Chronological Time. Since we were all raised alongside this aspect of Time, it will be far more familiar and relatable. To underscore its contrast to the Psychological Time aspect, let’s now call this typical life-known, Physical Universe version, Calendar Time. Other words to describe it are External, Shared or Outer Time. As well as being the version of time everyone is familiar with, Calendar Time is usually the ONLY version most people are even aware of ⏲.
Now, let’s place Calendar Time against Psychological Time and see where their similarities and differences lie.
Shared or Calendar Time is a measure that syncs my physical behaviour with people, things, objects and materials in the real world. My movements and activities require an interval to engage with other things and people. Otherwise, my relationship with you, everyone and everything else will suffer. Therefore my health and wellbeing also suffers if I don’t keep it relatively organised.
Psychological Time, in contrast, is my internal and personal sense of time. While Shared Time is a collective measure, and I need to be a part of this process to work with the outside world, Psychological Time is my thinking on an abstract and emotional plane. Yesterday and Tomorrow reproduce feelings between pleasure and fear that often fluctuate my perception of Calendar Time, or take me to a different time altogether.
Now that you have broadened your perspective on Time (unless you already saw it this way) let’s explore more Time systems, subsystems and variants.