Time Is a Circle But Is Not Flat
My Personal Mind Map of The Seven Days of The Week
‘The Secret Fate of All Life’ - S1 E05 of True Detective (HBO)
“Time is a flat circle. Everything we have done or will do we will do over and over and over again—forever.”
Now, I know what you are thinking. “We have been in quarantine for a year, this will be Clay’s hot take on how this infamous quote from HBO’s True Detective Season One relates to the memory palace that we have been forced to endure”.
That, thankfully, is not the case.
Our bodies are somehow at rest and our minds are cooped up in what can seem like a never-ending cycle since our physical walls have closed in on us at this moment in history.
Our families, our roommates, our partners are ever-present. The idea of ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ takes on a WHOLE new meaning in our once-in-a-century pandemic lockdowns.
Each Saturday, since my Mom passed away, I have a standing phone call with Dad. We talk for an hour about everything. Visiting IRL is minimal but I *really* love my Dad. We disagree politically, but that does not make me love him any less.
Derek Smalls of Spinal Tap - Nic Fildes and David Bond in London 18 OCTOBER 2016 - FT
Each Sunday, I clean and mop the floors. I also take an old lady cart up the hill to the laundromat (backward in the snow with no shoes) and pray that the high-capacity washer is free. The high capacity washers and the smallest capacity washers both have a Quick Wash setting. I want to get in and get out. The wash and dry time should be 68 minutes max. Plus, I think any more water and soap is bad environmentally and likely just as bad for our clothes. I may grab a coffee, some food (this is the only time I get to ‘grab a slice’), catch up on my Sunday podcast favorites Le Show with Harry Shearer and iFanboy. The key is getting there early. We used to do our podcasts on Sundays at Noon so either the washing was done before or after the session. I was way happier if I got up early on those Sundays.
The point is, I am now so much closer to my Dad's phone call and my laundry haul when it seemed like I just talked to him. He experiences the same time warp when he goes down to Foxwoods to get away each month for a couple of days. “Wasn’t I just here”?
I’m sure we all are feeling that repetitive cycle that doesn’t end. Flat circle, I guess.
I want to show you this illustration that I just made of “The Week”. It is one of my oldest memories and how I frame the week mentally. Perhaps this is just as helpful as listening to someone else’s dreams but I am curious if I am in sync with anyone else on my visualization of the “7 Days that Make A Week”.
Each individual day has a presentiment, a harbinger of both future and past Mondays.
I suppose my ‘Flat Circle’ is a bit like a silicone washer, squished down by thumb and forefinger. My next follow up post to this, especially if I get some great feedback of my first Substack post will divide the week days into mood colors. These colors are not representative of what is in my brain, with the exception of the nice big wide empty freedom of “The Week-End”. Each individual day has a presentiment, a harbinger of both future and past Mondays. Merlin Mann calls Tuesday the ‘Optimistic Day’. My optimism comes on Thursdays.
Here is my drawing and we will talk more about this Monday through Sunday expression in my work so please take heed.
instagram.com/creaturesbydesign for more of my drawings
My question for the comment section: How do you ‘view’ the week?
Is it like a regular calendar? If I were to say, “Let’s have a Zoom on Tuesday” what pops in your mind when you picture that day, that time, that moment?
Are you thinking of what we might talk about, your feelings about me, your feelings about how Tuesdays make you feel? How about what it feels like to have commitments on Tuesday when you know that is the same day TPS reports are due.
Please leave your thoughts below!
Clay N. Ferno
15 January 2021
--
Hey Clay, just saw this as l usually don't go thru emails on the weekends. And lately try to stay away from the news except for 60 minutes. And a guy friend visits so we try to keep it fun and light, music, videos ,cooking. Nice to have something to look forward to.
During the week l pick one day to go shopping. The rest of the week is pretty much the same...feeding the birds,music,tv and started some exercise videos. That has really given me a positive mindset.
Today is a holiday so I'm just chilling at the moment. Much love my friend so
❤🌺❤