Calendar Time:
Our Collective Measure

Now that we have warmed up, let’s dig a little deeper and get a better TIME-STRETCH.
Aka Shared / Physical / Outer / Chronological Time
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Having already touched on this version of time, let’s continue from where we left off.
I live in a world shared with everyone else. If I don’t stay in sync, I end up struggling—and I speak from experience as a lifelong time struggler! Calendar Time is our collective measure for organising life outside our heads. We all have to physically move around and engage in the real world, so we rely on a common interval to synchronise our behaviour for a civilised existence.
But how I feel Time—its heaviness or lightness—depends entirely on my state of mind. It’s alarmingly easy to slip out of sync without even noticing.
Can you relate to the following scenario?
When I’m in a dark mood, a single second can feel like five or ten, as though my heart rate and pulse become the hands of a giant clock that takes forever to finish one cycle.
Because I can bend or stretch time in my mind, fear often makes it feel longer, while pleasure makes it feel shorter. For example, if one second of clock time feels like five in my head, I’m suffering from a 1:5 or 1:10 ratio of Physical to Psychological Time—clearly undesirable. Conversely, “time flies when we’re having fun” means a 5:1 or 10:1 ratio in favour of spaciousness.
Here’s the ‘Time Tip’
If you notice yourself stuck in an undesirable state, keep an eye out for the moment your mind flips to a more pleasant vibe (even if it’s brief). The ability to observe these changes means you’re growing in self-awareness, opening another dimension of your mind.
Also note what you do when your mood lifts. Do you try to keep it going in order to avoid the unpleasant side returning? Or does it come back despite your efforts? I’ve learned that recognising these natural mood fluctuations helps me work better with Calendar Time overall.
Ultimately, it’s my mental power that rules my subjective sense of time—not the clock on the wall.