Life Moves Pretty Fast…
I remember watching the iconic film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off back in 1986. OK, it was iconic to me. I was 31 at the time, more than half my life ago. I enjoyed the movie, it was fun. I liked his carefree attitude. Little did I know that it’s now famous line would become some of the best life advice ever given.
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while you could miss it”
Now 39 years later. . . I understand.
Ferris was way ahead of his time. He was ahead of our time. As it turns out time seems to move even faster as we get older.
Wait…what? That’s not good. Why and how do we slow it down? Well, I am glad you asked.
According to science and psychology our perception of time moves faster as we age. Summers feel like a long weekend, we blink on New Years Day and we are ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, and we have all asked ourselves- where did the time go? We are not alone with this feeling. And I for one don’t like it.
According to neuroscientists there are a few explanations for this time warp phenomenon.
The proportional theory- A 5 year old sees one year as 20% of their life. The same year is only 2% of the life of a 50 year old. That smaller slice of the memory pie feels shorter.
Novelty- Everything was new to us when we were young. First kiss, first car, first job. All big meories. The density of these experinces stretch the perception of time.
The decline of attention- Adults are the masters of multi-tasking, which is a positive spin regarding our half-hearted effort. Divided attention makes us be less present, providing less memory formation allowing the moment to just fly by.
I for one am not a fan of my life going into fast forward mode, only to wake up one day wondering where did it go. So yes, I am in favor of slowing things down a bit. Accoring to psychology professor Cindy Lustig from the University of Michigan (Go Blue), “The key to slowing down time is to be mindful of the present. Being fully conscious in the moment can help rein in the freight train effect.
Please allow me to provide six strategies, collected from the experts, that may help slow the freight train.
Seek novelty like a curious toddler-Try new hobbies, visit new places, meet new people, and ask why 10 times in a row. Novelty and curiosity stimulates a deeper memory and stretches the experience of time.
Be deliberately present- Mindfulness enhances moments.
Journal- Recording mini life moments allows you to re-enjoy the memory.
Travel- See #1. Be sure to include micro trips. Always walk in the neighborhood? Go to the park.
Celebrate- A celebration just makes life bigger. Celebrate the small stuff too.
Savor boredom- Do you remember how slow time moved when you were bored back in the day? Yes? Let’s get bored again. Boredom can be the gateway to mindfulness, or just call it meditation.
Life does move fast, even more so as we age. But life is not a sprint. It’s a weird, beautiful obstacle course with unexpected twists. And while we cannot slow a ticking clock, we can fill our days with novelty, presence and reflection to make the journey feel richer, longer and even slower.
Enjoy your day,
Just a little extra-
I never skipped a day from school. Now looking back maybe I wish I had.
There was another line from Ferris that was not nearly as famous but seems to be good advice for our solution to slowing down life a little-
“The question isn’t What are we going to do? The question should be What aren’t we going to do”
It took me 39 years, but I am finally understanding the wisdom of Ferris Bueller.
References
McNamara, Colin. February 2019. Novelty and Dopamine Modulation of Memory. Trends in Neurosciences
Reneau, Annie. January 10, 2025. Why Time Seems To Accelerate As We Get Older. Upworthy
Hughes, John. Movie-Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Holmberg, Betsy Ph.D, August 23, 2024. Why Does Time Move Faster as We Get Older? Psychology Today