I don't remember taking this photo. I'm not sure it was me, but it's in my photo collection on my computer. And I did take photos of t-shirts when I was in Japan.
You've probably seen this kind of t-shirt, or other items from Japan and other countries with bad or funny English phrases on them. I saw a lot of them durning my twelve plus year stay there. Sometimes they're hilarious and sometimes they're just like - WTF are they trying to say?
And sometimes, they're like a Rorschach inkblot. Or a crystal ball. Or watching the clouds.
Humans look for meaning in everything, not realizing the meaning is actually generated within us.
Time can be strong, yes. Large amounts of time have created things like massive Sequoia trees, the Grand Canyon, and even black holes, which are probably the best example of time being strong, as they warp time to the point that, to an outside observer, anything that falls into them is actually frozen in time. Until the black hole dissipates, billions of years later, I guess.
From a more psychological perspective, our perception of time can also be strong. I feel the strength of time every time I'm on an airplane, outwardly calm despite the inner anxiety. I know that statistically it's unlikely the plane will go down, and even if it does the odds are still in my favor. But the strength of statistics pales in comparison to the strength of time during those long hours suspended in the air.
And if time can be strong, can't it also be weak? Does the strength of time wax and wane like the phases of the moon? It seems like it to me, especially when I'm having a really good time and forget time completely. Hours seem to have passed in an instant. Is that what the experience of eternal bliss is like? Is there a cosmic ratio between time and happiness? Does maximum happiness mean zero memory of that happiness?
I don't know. And if it's true, I never will.
