an artist's statement: the perception of time

“Time is too slow for those who wait;

too swift for those who fear;

too long for those who grieve;

too short for those who rejoice;

but for those who love, time is not.” Henry Van Dyke

As I have tried to do but not nearly as elegantly, Van Dyke articulates the essence of time. Time escapes us, every passing second unable to be relived or recaptured. We are continually becoming part of a social and personal history that cannot be rewritten. We see time in our destruction and creation; we feel time in our hurt and glad hearts. We both loathe and yearn for time. Time grants us knowledge; we learn what to take with us from our past and what to leave behind. While time blesses us with knowledge and choice, it also forces us to leave things behind, things, perhaps, it does not think we need. Memories fade, the minds loosens its hold on images, voices, and people, and things that were once our present cease to exist. I have waited, I have feared, I have grieved, I have rejoiced, and I have loved. As Van Dyke makes clear, each respective experience and corresponding emotion yields a particular attitude toward time. In complete agreement, I would also argue that at the end of our lives we never truly hate time. We merely miss it—the moments, the people, the love. We take photographs and record videos to document our existence, to assure ourselves and others that a particular time did exist, that particular people were indeed part of our lives—as both moments and people can be tragically and/or blissfully fleeting.

Time is both beautiful and scary, full of changes that will surely bear sorrow and joy. If one can manage to love, however, one can hold time, nourish it. Love allows us to embrace time, to feel its passing, to witness its growth. One can live in harmony time if one can simply manage to love strongly enough and accept what is.