Up: [[Experiencing Time]] Related: [[Life]] Created: 2023-11-11 Updated: 2024-12-25 I’m not a fan of a pop philosopher trying to talk about mental health with any kind of authority, but I did enjoy reading de Botton’s reflections on the nature of time in an excerpted article on how to lengthen my life. De Botton makes the excellent point that trying to add more years to our lives misses the point that time can’t be measured objectively because it feels like it moves at different speeds under different conditions. Childhood feels long because it is filled with novelty. In middle age and old age, there’s far less novelty, so time feels more fleeting. Travel and exotic experiences like swimming with dolphins are expensive ways to reintroduce novelty. A more practical option is to see familiar things with new eyes, go deeper into the present moment. This is Mary Oliver’s advice and my mantra — Pay Attention. Be Amazed. Tell About It. So rather than trying to have a longer life by doing the things that we hope will give us more years (*Death can’t reliably be warded off with kale!*), we need to try to make whatever time we have left feel substantial, dense. > [!User] Source > An excerpt from Alain de Botton’s *A Therapeutic Journey: Lessons from the School of Life* that was in The Oldster Magazine on Substack, Nov. 10, 2023