[BrandonM]

While "meditating" one night, I had nearly the opposite perception. I realized that time is just one long stretch, and our convention of splitting it up into weeks, months, and years is just a way to allow us to repeat the same existence over and over again. The day is the only unit that we biologically require, since we have to sleep once per day. We spend five days working, looking forward to those two that we can do what we want, before spending another five working again. We enjoy a given holiday, so we spend a dozen or two days anticipating it, hoping that this year's installment is just as enjoyable.

At the time I had the "insight", it was incredibly sad to me. I felt like we have a beautiful stretch of time laying out in front of us, and instead of enjoying every unique moment, we entangle it with spirals and walk through similar lives, week after week, month after month, year after year.

[mbreese]

But the cycles (years) correspond to the seasons... so they are a natural way for us to divide a timeline. Because spring always follows winter, and summer follows spring, etc... we experience time as a cycle.