Originally Published November 8, 2017
One day, like most days, I was awoken by my alarm. And like most days, I quickly hit the snooze. Again and again, I hit the snooze until I had just enough time to get ready for class. And then I hit the snooze one more time. When I awoke from what seemed like a deep slumber not a minute had gone by. I was amazed, but soon dismissed the thought and got ready for class. Since then, I’ve noticed that sometimes I fall into these pools where time does not flow. It only sits there until I emerge from it. Often times, these pools appear when between states of waking and sleep.
Also in these magical moments are the time jumps. Those are the instances when I have set an alarm to get up early and study but upon closing my eyes and opening them again, hours have gone by and I have missed the class entirely. The time jumps occur much more often during the day while the time pools usually require a trance-like state such as emerging from sleep or creating art in a manner that takes me outside of myself. It’s like losing gravity or being chained to the ground.
I understand that both of these have logical explanations. Who hasn’t been so consumed by a video game, book, or television series that nothing gets in the way of you and your enjoyment of that thing? Who hasn’t suddenly looked up from their preferred activity to find the sky is now dark and several hours have passed so effortlessly. Additionally, who hasn’t sat though a mind numbing, boring class where fifteen minutes feel like an hour? Normal, right?
Is it though? Why is it normal? Because people other than you have experienced it? Can anything be normal if you convince enough people to do it then? I think so. Look at conventions. Adults dressed as fictional characters. Often I’ve seen them walk through the streets in colorful costumes and outfits boarding the trains as if nothing were strange about a grown man in a purple wig and pegasus wings.
Look at schools. Children on average at five years old away from their mothers for hours at a time. Learning how to describe their world with numbers and colors. A world they will never fully understand. Because what is normal, but what we create to be normal? Make your own normal outside of society’s convoluted idea of it. We’d be happier that way.
Of course, we’d still have to appease society’s terms of normal. They do have consequences for those who violate their terms. Think jail, social out-casting, and decreased advancement opportunities. Having appeased them though, let’s do what we want. Why should we feel bad for not thinking like the rest of those human sheep? Weird or special, it’s our choice what to call ourselves.
My Dragonfly Life 
One thought on “The Time Jumps, Time Pools, and Normalcy”