Drabbles - The Paradox of Time

[mamazano]

What then is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know.
   ~Saint Augustine

Comments

[veronica_rich]

It seems not even Death itself - literally - can ease Jack's wait. He'll have to seek other means to hang on to the valuable he's managed to find.

Thoughtful, yet brief. Nice.

[mamazano]

Thanks! I tend to get all thinky and profound, and run with it. I have been contemplating this concept for some time, and the implications of immortality. This is an off-shoot of that.

I imagine there will be more to come...

[mamazano]

Thanks. It reminds me of that wonderful Jim Croce song, "Time in a Bottle," where he speaks of keeping time bottle up until eternity passes away, just to spend every moment with the one he loved.

Time can be both a blessing and a curse, depending on which side of time you are on.

[danglingdingle]

Aha, it has begun then, en route to Time.
Permission to come aboard, Captain? :)

Does time exist?

For Will Turner, time only existed in his memories, in his hopes, in his dreams.

Time was a collection of instants, a causal event that encompassed everything.

Yes. Yesyesyes! The whole world, the entire universe revolves around time, and the lack thereof, everything is measured in moments, long or short, it doesn't matter. It is still time. There is no escape from it, everything is still instants and then and when and, yes, the bliss of now...

To age was to die. To die was to pass beyond, leaving all hopes and dreams behind. All love.

Call me crazy, but this is what I think that Jack lives for; to dream, and to chase the elusive things in life. Though I personally hate that Jack had to lose the Pearl again, I'm convinced that Jack was, deep down inside, happy to see it shrink into the distance. That way he didn't have to give up the chase, not yet.

Time was the unifying element that caused change, growth, state of being.It's

[mamazano]

The idea of all life being a cosmic whole, all lives intertwined and connected, like a spider's web, where each gossamer thread is connected in some way to each other... the idea of time being NOW, of all things happening simultaneously, is something I have tried to grasp in my mind for some time.

I once asked how it could be possible to pray for the lost souls in purgatory, or even a loved one that had passed on, how it could make a difference if they were already dead. And I was told something I have always kept with me, that to God (or any immortal), there is no linear time, all time is NOW. So all events in history are happening at the same time.

The same concept can be used for time travel, or for me, the crossing of worlds for Jack and Will.

Love, for all eternity. Don't get much better than that!

[compassrose7577]

Time is a four-letter word, isn't it?

A friend and allie to some, an enemy and peril to many.

The contrast between the two worlds is quite insightful. The heaven for one being the hell for the other. I would imagine Jack has sought several elixirs in his time... wonder which one will actually work?

Time stopping isn't necessarily a good thing for someone who is counting the days to complete his ten years... but then that who thing is rather amorphous, isn't it?

Love it when your mind starts those pensive rambles!

[mamazano]

I tend to get this way at times, true...

I am imagining Jack has been chasing elusive elixirs most of his life, and enjoying the freedom to do so.

The world of the living is full of dying people, the world of the dead is where they truly live. Another of the many paradoxes of life. Or death.

I have to think more on this...

[giselleslash]

I wish I could leave some kind of intelligent comment full of praise for your gorgeous writing, but all I can do right now is nod my head and sigh, yes - yes.

[mamazano]

It's rather visceral, isn't it? It's like the quote above, you understand with your gut, but can't quite get the words around it.

Not that it ever stopped me from trying! LOL

Thank you for reading, and your kind words.