2d (edited) • Musings & Thoughts
Where Did the Time Go?
I've been hearing the same thing over and over lately — in casual conversations, in my own head. "I can't believe it's already [month]. Where is the year going? Life feels like it's on fast forward."
If you've felt this way since around 2020, you're not imagining it. And you're definitely not alone.
The COVID Clock
Something shifted after the pandemic, and it wasn't just the world around us — it was our relationship with time itself. Lockdown was its own strange paradox: the days dragged endlessly while the months evaporated. And now, years later, many of us look back and struggle to account for where that time actually went.
There's a real reason for that, and understanding it has helped me — and I think it might help you too.
Why Time Feels Like It's Slipping
Our brains measure time in memories, not minutes.
The way we perceive time looking back depends on how many distinct, novel moments we can recall. Lockdown stripped our lives of variety — no travel, no gatherings, no spontaneous adventures. Without those landmarks, whole stretches of time blur into one undifferentiated smear. The year didn't disappear. It just left very few footprints.
A lot changed, faster than we were ready for.
Even though it felt slow in the moment, the world restructured at a pace we rarely see. Remote work. Economic upheaval. The AI revolution. Political turbulence. A housing crisis. When the backdrop of ordinary life keeps shifting, your internal sense of where you are keeps getting reset — and that creates a deep feeling of velocity, like you're moving without choosing to.
We learned to defer living.
This one sits with me. COVID taught many of us to put life on hold. "We'll do that when things go back to normal." For some people, that waiting mode stretched on for years. And time spent waiting — not fully inhabiting your life — has a way of vanishing quietly.
The older we get, the faster it goes.
There's a timeless psychological phenomenon at play here too. Each year we live is a smaller fraction of our total life experience. A year at age ten feels like forever. At forty, it barely registers. Post-2020, we're all simply older — and this effect, which was already at work, has become harder to ignore.
What Breathwork Has to Do With It
This is where I think our practice becomes especially relevant.
Breathwork pulls you into the present moment in a way that few things can. When you're in a session — really in it — time doesn't rush. You're not replaying the past or fast-forwarding to the next thing. You're here, anchored, fully occupying the moment you're actually in.
That's not a small thing. It's actually the antidote.
Research on time perception consistently points to the same remedy: novelty, presence, and full sensory engagement slow time down. New experiences give the brain fresh material to encode. Being genuinely present — rather than running on autopilot — creates memories worth keeping. Breathwork does both. It's a new experience every time, and it demands your complete attention.
An Invitation
If life feels like it's blurring past you, I'd encourage you to ask yourself: Am I inhabiting my days, or just moving through them?
The speed isn't going to let up on its own. The world will keep moving fast. But we get to choose how we meet it — rushing breathlessly alongside it, or pausing, breathing, and actually being here.
That's what this practice is for. Not just stress relief or nervous system regulation (though it's that too).
It's a way of reclaiming your time — one breath at a time.
See you in the next session.
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Where Did the Time Go?
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