Directions for Time Travel
Did you know that if you recreate enough conditions, you can take yourself back to certain point in time? Right now, ask yourself, where would you like to go back to? A specifc time? Maybe just a broad span of time (i.e. last fall or that month where mom let you have the car whenever you wanted). Figured it out yet? No? That's okay...take your time (that was little pun to help you loosen up. Relax, we're going to have fun with this).
stepone:visual
In this age of fancy gadgets and other assorted technical frou-frou, we make and keep digital records of almost everything in our past at our fingertips (I'm talking about computers, silly!). Sift through your pictures. You have hundreds of them. Maybe you should switch to "Thumbnail View." Look at that picture of you and the girl you liked. Wasn't she amazing? Lament for a few seconds, but then realize you have moved on. Go forward a few more pictures and laugh at the faces your friends are making. Smile briefly, then go back to the picture of you and that girl. She really was something else.
Next, go through all the emails you saved for some random reason. Read the ones from people you miss and note the date. What did they say? What did you say to make them say that? Go back over the lines and words that will always stick out in your mind. Realize that you don't email as much as you'd like anymore.
steptwo: audio
This is probably the most important step in the process. Play music. Play the album that just came out and you played over and over again during the time period in question. If you are playing MP3s, perhaps learn the hotkeys for Repeat or Skip Backward. (You wouldn't want to fly forward through time suddenly, would you?) Listen to the chord progression that makes you think of that drive back home on a chilly autumn night and the chorus that you sang as loud as you could because you were alone on the road. Sing along right now if you'd like, but I would recommend keeping quiet. You can concentrate more on time travel when you're just listening.
stepthree: communication
You might think time travel would be more efficient with more resources. Time Travel Mistake Number One. Resist the urge to call your friends and talk about the time period in question. This time machine has but one seat. Your drunken references, reminiscing, and regrets are best saved for a later date. Your friends have different perspectives on all these events anyway. No, this is best done alone and the most you should ever really say during this time is: "huh..." or "wow....man". Don't answer the phone. It's not very important right now.
stepfour: mental
If this is overwhelming at all, then sit back a minute. Rub your eyes with both of your hands, then run your hands back through your hair. You are no longer thinking about the present. You are in the mental state of the point in time of which you were seeking. (I would have used the word "regressed" there, but it's not like you suddenly started drooling and lost control of your bowels.) Do you have to go into work tomorrow? Or was tomorrow the day you went to the art fair downtown and bought her a cup of coffee to keep her hands warm? You don't know. I don't know either, but that's not important, because this Time Travel is temporary.
stepfive: success
Great Scott! With the all the conditions in the right place, you are now back in time. The music should give life to the pictures and words in front of you. Let them move around you, breathing and talking as you stay quiet and just remember the past as you would normally take in the present. Right now, your arms are around your friends as they bug out their eyes and stick their tongues out. Right now, she just emailed you her phone number. Right now, you are anxious. Right now, you are excited. Right now, you are nervous and everything in your future is uncertain, even though it is really in your past. It's good to be back, yes?
stepsix: return
Breathe in deeply and bite your bottom lip. Turn the music off, or at least switch to something more current. Maybe that new Outkast song, "Hey Ya!" Close your picture viewer and get up to stretch. You are now back in the present. Think about calling that girl. You wouldn't talk about the past, but you would search her voice for a clue that maybe she was thinking about it, too.
Or maybe don't call. You have work tomorrow.
stepone:visual
In this age of fancy gadgets and other assorted technical frou-frou, we make and keep digital records of almost everything in our past at our fingertips (I'm talking about computers, silly!). Sift through your pictures. You have hundreds of them. Maybe you should switch to "Thumbnail View." Look at that picture of you and the girl you liked. Wasn't she amazing? Lament for a few seconds, but then realize you have moved on. Go forward a few more pictures and laugh at the faces your friends are making. Smile briefly, then go back to the picture of you and that girl. She really was something else.
Next, go through all the emails you saved for some random reason. Read the ones from people you miss and note the date. What did they say? What did you say to make them say that? Go back over the lines and words that will always stick out in your mind. Realize that you don't email as much as you'd like anymore.
steptwo: audio
This is probably the most important step in the process. Play music. Play the album that just came out and you played over and over again during the time period in question. If you are playing MP3s, perhaps learn the hotkeys for Repeat or Skip Backward. (You wouldn't want to fly forward through time suddenly, would you?) Listen to the chord progression that makes you think of that drive back home on a chilly autumn night and the chorus that you sang as loud as you could because you were alone on the road. Sing along right now if you'd like, but I would recommend keeping quiet. You can concentrate more on time travel when you're just listening.
stepthree: communication
You might think time travel would be more efficient with more resources. Time Travel Mistake Number One. Resist the urge to call your friends and talk about the time period in question. This time machine has but one seat. Your drunken references, reminiscing, and regrets are best saved for a later date. Your friends have different perspectives on all these events anyway. No, this is best done alone and the most you should ever really say during this time is: "huh..." or "wow....man". Don't answer the phone. It's not very important right now.
stepfour: mental
If this is overwhelming at all, then sit back a minute. Rub your eyes with both of your hands, then run your hands back through your hair. You are no longer thinking about the present. You are in the mental state of the point in time of which you were seeking. (I would have used the word "regressed" there, but it's not like you suddenly started drooling and lost control of your bowels.) Do you have to go into work tomorrow? Or was tomorrow the day you went to the art fair downtown and bought her a cup of coffee to keep her hands warm? You don't know. I don't know either, but that's not important, because this Time Travel is temporary.
stepfive: success
Great Scott! With the all the conditions in the right place, you are now back in time. The music should give life to the pictures and words in front of you. Let them move around you, breathing and talking as you stay quiet and just remember the past as you would normally take in the present. Right now, your arms are around your friends as they bug out their eyes and stick their tongues out. Right now, she just emailed you her phone number. Right now, you are anxious. Right now, you are excited. Right now, you are nervous and everything in your future is uncertain, even though it is really in your past. It's good to be back, yes?
stepsix: return
Breathe in deeply and bite your bottom lip. Turn the music off, or at least switch to something more current. Maybe that new Outkast song, "Hey Ya!" Close your picture viewer and get up to stretch. You are now back in the present. Think about calling that girl. You wouldn't talk about the past, but you would search her voice for a clue that maybe she was thinking about it, too.
Or maybe don't call. You have work tomorrow.