Could Time Just Hold Up a Minute, Please?

 

Time (and exactly what it even is) has been a thing for philosophy for centuries. Augustine said that he knows what time is…at least until you ask him. Explaining and defining time sounds easy until you actually try to do it. Aristotle related time to motion (hmmm, could that have inspired Neil to write Time and Motion…). Philosophers in more recent times from Heidegger to Paul Ricoeur to Jacques Derrida to David Wood (to name a very few) have grappled with time. What the hell is it, anyway?

Despite the philosophical conundrums about time, there are certain things in our common experience of time we all share.

When there is something we want in the future, such as when there was an upcoming Rush show we had tickets for, we wanted time to get a move on! Now, however, we Rush fans wouldn’t mind so much if we could turn the clock back and see the boys again. We say there is “no time like the present” to get something done. Regret is sometimes related to time as in we wish we would have had or taken more time with a loved one who is gone. During hardship we can’t wait until such times are over. During good times we wish time wouldn’t move so fast. 

We are fickle about time. We want time to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. But here’s the deal. Time is impervious to our wants or needs. As we get older, we have this sense that time is moving on and it seems to be moving faster. We get a sense of what really matters in life more than anything. And it is not our career or money or whatever. People matter. Experiences matter. This is when we just want time to stand still. I think these considerations moved Neil to write: 

Time stand still—

I’m not looking back—
But I want to look around me now
See more of the people
And the places that surround me now

That first line, which is the title of the song from Hold Your Fire, is not a declarative statement that time stands still, it is more like a request or a command or a plea to time…stand still would ya! Do we want time to stand still because we want to go back? No, not so much. Often it feels life is passing by so quickly that we might be missing things we shouldn’t. We just want to look around. We want to see the people and places all around us. We are not asking time to go in reverse. Just to be still. When the moment passes, it is gone along with the time we might have given to those people and places.

Freeze this moment

A little bit longer
Make each sensation
A little bit stronger
Experience slips away…

We know time has to move on, but it sure would be nice if we could linger just a little bit longer in some moments. I particularly love the words “make each sensation a little bit stronger.” Whether a sensation of our senses or an emotional sensation, oh that time would stand still to make them all a bit stronger to be more deeply embedded in our consciousness, in our memory. 

You see, as experience slips away, over time our memory of the sensation fades as well. We want to hold the reality as close to us, in our very flesh, as much and as long as we can. 

We want to make time stand still.

But here is the thing. We can’t and we know we can’t. What I take from Time Stand Still is less of a plea to time to stand still for us. What is contained in that plea is much more that we are mindful to soak in every good moment and hold it dear. Hold people dear and to make as much of the moments as we possibly can. 

This is so contrary to what is fed to us every day. Be productive, keep moving, get ahead, hustle. Slowing down and just breathing life in is looked down upon. You don’t get to slow down until you have earned it one day in retirement. Well, I disagree with that idea and I think the wisdom in the song Time Stand Still is evidence enough I am right on that point. 

So, no, we can’t make time stand still even though we want to so very, very much. What do we have left? I think Geddy summed it up just right in the recent interview he and Alex did with "House of Strombo." Tune in around the 43 minute, 30 second mark.  In response to a question about he and Alex playing together again, he said, “If I have learned anything from the terrible things that have happened the last few years, it’s the value of time. And make sure you are spending your time the way you want to spend it. That’s a bigger question than whether Al and I will make a record or Al and I will play together or whatever. It’s gotta be about our time and in our lives because it’s precious and, man, it goes.”

Yep. So, spend it well. Even though time won’t stand still, we can still be (from Fly By Night) Making Memories...