THE WEEKLY PAGE š No. 176
How our brain processes time + this week's picks for work, wellness, and wonder!
I always get a little twinge of summer FOMO when June comes to a close, especially this year, as it seemed to fly by faster than ever. I swear June felt like it was 3 days long. Just me?
We know the old adage that ātime flies when you're having funā but our perception of time also changes as we age ā typically speeding up as we get older. I've always been curious about what causes this, and although I just assumed it was due to our perception of time (i.e. a year of our life when we are 8 years old is 1/8 of our entire lifeā¦compared to a year of our life when we are 80, is 1/80th), but it turns out, there might also be some neuroscience involved.
Duke University Professor Adrian Bejan explains it like this":
āOver time, the rate at which we process visual information slows down, and this is what makes time āspeed upā as we grow older. As we age the size and complexity of the networks of neurons in our brains increases ā electrical signals must traverse greater distances and thus signal processing takes more time. Slower processing times result in us perceiving fewer āframes-per-secondā ā more actual time passes between the perception of each new mental image. This is what leads to time passing more rapidly. When we are young, each second of actual time is packed with many more mental images. Like a slow-motion camera that captures thousands of images per second, time appears to pass more slowly.ā
This might explain why we can recall vivid memories from those long summer days of our youth that seemed to last foreverā¦.but a Saturday at the Lake in our mid-50s could seem like a blip on the radar. It's not that those early experiences were necessarily more meaningful or profound ---- they were just rapid-fire processed by our young brains.
Interesting, right? And while there's not much we can do about it, being present and taking time to carefully observe what is happening around us can help our brain lock in more of those details and perhapsā¦just for a secondā¦time will slow down a bit.
I know many of my American friends will be off to the beaches and lakes this weekend to celebrate the 4th of July ā take a moment to pause, breathe deep, and capture a couple of extra frames.
š³EAT: Carbs + a good protein + a flavorful fat are sorta the trifecta when it comes to making my brain go āDAMN, THAT'S GOOD!ā Enter this shrimp rice bowl. I swear it really is just the perfect combo of flavors and nutrients and the pickled onions are SO easy to make but a fun ātoppingā to keep in the fridge. Here's the recipe.
š§LISTEN: An interesting unit we had in the Mayo Clinic Wellness Coach Training Program that I completed last week, was a unit on sound frequencies! Certain frequencies can provide benefits for focusing, decreasing anxiety, or calming symptoms of ADHD. This put me down a rabbit hole of 8D sounds ā 8D is known for helping you relax and focus. The music often has āmovementā that can make you feel like you're slowly spinning. It's recommended that you listen to it with headphones on. Ā āDeath Bed (Coffee For Your Head)ā is currently my favorite 8D track (obsessed with it!) but I've also been listening to this 8D Playlist on Spotify when I'm working.
šŗ WATCH: I know, I know ā Dani is clearly on another cult kick. It's a real theme in my life ā but yes, after finishing Shiny, Happy, People I dove into The Secrets of Hillsong on Hulu. This one follows the international rise and fall of a ātrendyā megachurch that was founded in Australia. I was absolutely shocked to discsover that there's a Hillsong location in Copenhagen (still!) and although I thought the first two episodes were a little boring, the last two episodes delivered. Watch the trailer.
š§LISTEN: A lot of the anti-trans (as well as anti-choice) arguments we are seeing currently are āsupportedā using information from a group called āThe American College of Pediatriciansā. BUT this is not an accredited group, and it's basically a misinformation machine. They have only 700 members, of which less than 60% are physicians. It was founded in 2002 and branched off from The American Academy of Pediatrics (the real organization, with over 67,000 members, 95% of whom are physicians) after that group came forward in support of same-sex parents. This podcast episode tells you all about this group, their long-term plans, and what happened when a bunch of journalists got into their Google Drive (š). Moral of the story: if you're gonna be a transphobic bigot, and least know where your (mis)information comes from! Listen to the episode here.
Prep yourself for the month ahead with my quick 15-minute routine:
3 MINS - Review your upcoming schedule to assess where you are spending your time. Does it align with your priorities?
3 MINS - Look at your projects and tasks and make sure everything is up to date. Anything you need to update or delete?
3 MINS - Curate the files on your computer and phone (including photos you took this month!). Delete things you don't need. Does your information feel organized and accessible?
3 MINS - Look through any paper notes or random bits of info you collected last month. What digital system could you move it to so it doesn't get lost?
3 MINS - Clean your work area, wipe down your monitors, and when you're ready ā update your phone and computer wallpapers by downloading the files directly with the buttons below: