Time Travel

We carry time within us.

Sometimes, a simple smell, sound, or sight can transport us to another time –
a time long ago,
but a time we still carry within ourselves.

Somehow, the present moment can bring the past right into focus. In the midst of this, we feel connections to previous moments and people who were a part of them. We even experience this in our bodies. The past makes itself known in our feelings and physical sensations.

All of this is true
in our very best memories and connections,
in our relationship to grief and loss, and
in our experiences of trauma.

Time travels so easily because we carry time within us. This is part of being human.

But we are not solely passive agents in the midst of this. We can make some choices about how we bring time to ourselves. We can build connections between moments, and these connections can give us ahas of insight. We can make space to feel our emotions. We can honor people who have died. We can allow time to speak to us and make new meaning for the present.

And

We can be a Mediator. We can facilitate communication between past and present — toward healing, toward insight, toward laughter, toward joy.

When the past brings meaningful memories and connections, we can invite these to speak directly to anything we especially need right now.

And when eras of challenge or pain suddenly snap into focus, we can mediate
the best of our current experiences,
the best of our wisdom, and
the best of our nurture
straight toward the version of ourselves that lived in another time.

Then speaks to Now,
Now speaks to Then,
Older and younger versions of ourselves are in communion.

We are in relationship with ourselves, connected to a myriad of people and moments.

And from that awareness, the mediation of time doesn’t have to be heavy or deeply serious. It can also be playful. It can certainly be life-giving.

So. . . shall we try it a bit?

–Renee Roederer