I had a realization the other day – my summer “vacation” is two-thirds over.  How did this happen?  What is this phenomenon wherein the things you love go quickly and the things you do not love so much trudge along as if you are walking through swamp muck?  I don’t fully get it.  Didn’t Einstein develop a theory in regard to this phenomenon?  I have read there are folks who have tried to test it and have concluded that time does indeed fly when you are having fun.

And a digression, if I may, at this juncture – I love Albert Einstein. I mean look at the photo above – perhaps one of the most frequently published photos of him – you can just tell that along with his brillinat mind came an irrepressible spirit. If you couldn’t pick that up from this photo you need merely refer to many of things he was captured saying in his lifetime – things like:

“Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.”

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.”

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”

“Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.”

“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

“No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”

“I have no particular talent. I am merely inquisitive.”

“The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.”

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

Okay…I will say and own it right here and now…if Albert Einstein was alive today and single I’d be all over him – no matter his age or physical state.  That is how alluring his beautiful mind and irrepressible spirit are to me – what is not to love??  Really – the man was brilliant and look at him – he was adorable.  Can you imagine what a great couple we would have made – it would have been epic!  Move over Brangelina – make room for Carbert.  We could have rocked the relationship world…alas, there was only one Einstein and he is regretfully gone (hence, my single-dom continues unabated).

But back to my realization of my fleeting summer…two-thirds gone.

In summer the days seem longer because the sun is out longer and the play time opportunities are greater – indeed, the possibilities in summer seem absolutely endless.  Perhaps that is how the Beach Boys conceived it as well – hence the title of their album – Endless Summer in the seventies (and don’t bother noting that I dated myself by referencing the Beach Boys, the seventies, or an album – it is already noted).

Yes, I realize I am easily distracted today – my stream of consciousness seems to be meandering, but stick with me as I am coming back around. 😉

So back to the topic of fleeting “vacation”…

To be fair – it is not like I have really been on “vacation” all this time – at least physically (mentally, now that is another story – I have been lying on a sunny beach in my mind since May).  I have actually been fairly heavily laden with projects and trips this summer already and am facing two more trips in the next couple of weeks (stay tuned for news of those – they should be filled with Enquirer-worthy activities).

Also to be fair, I have seemingly been getting into plenty of mischief already this summer – neverending laughter, late nights and sleeping in have been more the norm than the rarity so I can’t cry about the quality of the days and nights already spent.

It’s just this notion that it is coming to an end that makes the last third of summer seem all that more precious.  It is the recognition that summer is not endless – that time is fleeting – that makes it all seem so much more salient and worthy of dedicated focus.  Knowing that only one month is left made me really think about upping my game to wring every single ounce of fun possible out of the remaining days.

Well, I was pondering all this when an equally noteworthy realization came to me – indeed, an even bigger realization that had always been there but had gone unspoken…this summer is not unlike my life (give or take a decade or two)…two-thirds gone.  Interestingly, the feelings I have about the fleeting nature of summer are directly translatable to my life.

Recognizing that you are in a life that is two-thirds gone has a way of making it all seem so much more salient and worthy of dedicated focus…it makes me want to up my game to wring every single ounce of fun out of the remaining days that I can.  I think some folks might call that a mid-life crisis, but I think it to be more of a recognition of the realities of time.  I am sure some folks look at me, my views on life and my day-to-day escapades and wonder what has come over me in what is supposed to be an age of maturity; that is okay – I understand that some folks don’t get this feeling I am describing or perhaps address it differently.  The point is – I get it…two-thirds gone and not another moment to waste.  I want to enjoy every last remaining minute for all it is worth – this summer and my life.

See what I am saying about me and Albert – damn…if only he was still around…together we could have developed a whole new theory that blows the space-time continuum out of the water…Carbert would have been a force to be reckoned with. 😉

Day three hundred and seventy-five of the new forty – obla di obla da

Ms. C