The end of another year…where does the time go? I can’t quite recall how I time-warped from the eighties to now, but some days it seems like that was the last time my life was slow enough for me to recognize the passage of days as opposed to weeks and months.
I wonder about the phenomenon in play here. Why is it that time flies by now, while in other periods of my life it dug in its heels and seemed to pass painfully slow? More importantly, why was I ever inclined to be anxious that time passed? I wonder – is it a function of aging and a recognition that one only has so much time on this earth? But I still have (theoretically) half a decade left to travel through, so is it really a function of aging?
Perhaps it is a function of life stage. In the eighties I was, for the most part, a stay-at-home mom raising kids. Now my life is that of a working mom raising one kid (or raising a village of proverbial kids as an educator). And my life today, well it is hectic, but I made it that way – indeed, I built this life and in addition, most days I really like it.
Alas, I still struggle with the phenomenon in play here – another year has passed and taking a retrospective view it has done so in the seeming blink-of-an-eye. The reality though is something a bit different than what I am reflecting on today. The year did not really flit by in the wink-of-an-eye. Much happened…events, accomplishments, laughter, additions, losses, growth…it was a full year to be sure.
2009 was the year that I saw my dream of Teen CERT in North Dakota realized; the year I visited Ghana; the year I finally got to spend a whole week with my family relaxing at a beach house in Monterey; the year my students and I helped with the flood; the year that I moved into a tenure track position at NDSU; the year that my grandchild count went from one to two; the year that I realized a number of professional goals; the year I satisfied my promise to myself to write for pleasure; the year that my $412,000 grant was funded; and, the year that I finally wrapped up my dissertation and received my Ph.D.
And in-between that stuff is a hundred other memories of times with my family, friends and colleagues that run through my mind like a slide show. So, time flew, but mostly it flew on the wings of laughter and excitement and promise. 2009 was a very good year and in retrospect it may seem like it went by in the blink-of-an-eye, but its there ready for replay in my mind, heart and memories.
As the man said in the movie The Shawshank Redemption, “Get busy living, or get busy dying.” I’ll take the former – watch out 2010 – I’m getting busy! 
Day one hundred and seventy-nine of the new forty – obla di obla da
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