'It's a common, but not universal, observance that life feels like it speeds up as we get older. So this is the question I asked of the Twitterverse: I have been assured it is permissible in certain circumstances.) (You're right, of course.) But Twitter is a rather simple way to put a question to the world. Say what you will about the scientific shortcomings of social media polls. 'My perception of time doesn't seem to have picked up pace and, if anything, it seems my most recent years might even be slowing down.' Lately I've been wondering if there were other people like me, out there. Within that fleeting instant, though, my perception of time doesn't seem to have picked up pace and, if anything, it seems my most recent years might even be slowing down. In the grand scheme of the universe, after all, 50 years is nothing. And so on.Īnd sure, I certainly recognize the brevity of human existence. Others came with seemingly endless gifts of joy.īut a second has always felt like a second. I do seem to remember childhood as a sort-of slow-motion experience but, as far as I can tell, the years that followed my adolescence have all moved along at about the same pace. And as I approach my 50th year on this planet, I’ve been waiting with a mixture of fascination and dread for this to happen. I've heard that life speeds up as we get older.

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