Only Time Will Tell...

The Shadow of Time

 

...as if time could really have a shadow!

Time. Such an abstract subject. You can't see it. You can't touch it. You can't smell it. You can't 'sense' it. Time won't even tell, in spite of the old adage, 'only time will tell...' It won't stand still. And yet, we center our lives around this abstract thing. I don't have the time. I need more time. Time will heal. It is timeless. Give me some time.

Aren't we silly?

The shadow you see above is being cast on the interior of an hourglass. I took the photograph on 12/31/10. New Year's Eve. It was the pattern of the shadow that caught my eye. Here's more of the image so that you have a sense of reference:

Same object. Different perspective.

I'll give you time to think about it.

(yeah, like I really can, huh?)     : )

I also wanted to continue my discussion from last week in regards to: observations. I would wager that many of us, if not all (and I include myself in this count) think of the process of observation merely as a visual one (unless you are a musician, perhaps not). To fully observe, we need to engage all of our senses and give each of them equal time. "Biologist Jared Diamond is an expert on tropical birds and relies on his aural sense in identification. One morning he took two colleagues with him out into a New Guinea rain forest. Within a short amount of time he was able to identify 57 birds species for them, yet they had not seen a single bird. The 18th century novelist Henry Fielding had a sightless half-brother named John who (as a magistrate in London) was said to be able to identify more than 3,000 criminals by their voices!" (from: Sparks of Genius by Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein)

Other senses, such as taste and smell play important roles in the industry of aromatherapy, perfumes, wine tasters, brew masters and in the culinary world. Ancient physicians made a practice of tasting patient's pus and urine, which led to  the discovery that the urine of diabetics tastes sweeter than normal urine (that discovery was made thousands of years ago). (from: Sparks of Genius by Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein)

To become a keener observer, you need to make more use of every kind of sensory information and develop the knack of appreciating the sublimity of the mundane (from: Sparks of Genius by Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein). Think about that the next time you step outside to view a sunrise in the morning. That smell in the air is different from what you would sense later in the day as the sun makes its journey across our sky. Listen to the sounds that accompany that hour of the day. The air even feels different in the morning.

Celebrate the sublimity of the mundane!

Every week, a group of us from around the world post our shadow shots over at Hey Harriet. Entertain your muse and be amused by stopping by to see what others have posted! You can view all of my 2010 Shadow Shot Sunday images on my Flickr account. Click here to view them.