Time flies...and zooms and creeps

"Time flies when you're having fun."

Today I took time to ponder time. I believe time is a wicked, stubborn thing, always opposing our moods and wishes. When we are enjoying ourselves- be it the quiet time parents seize, the date night an eager teen awaited, or even the blissful sleep of the dreary- time simply speeds by. Before we know it routine, mundane, unpleasant, or simply regular everyday life gets in the way.

Which, of course, brings about the point of time dragging it's hands. When it's monotonous homework, all too often occurring house work or awaiting the answer to a question- Am I pregnant? Will she say yes? Did I get that job?Will my loved one make it out of the hospital okay?- the clock's hands sluggishly creep by. And once these often stressful moments of way-to-long agony pass we find ourselves completing the circle as out mood lifts and the clock once again sprouts wings.

The same holds true when putting pen to paper or, more commonly, fingers to keys. ;)

When a writer is immersed in the story, frantically transferring words to paper in order to take the story where the characters demand it goes time slips behind all else and when the real world comes careening back and the elapsed times comes to focus, often astounding the writer.

Too often I will begin working on a story after breakfast and seemingly the next thing I am aware of is a setting sun and the kids asking what I am making for dinner.

On the other hand, to balance the scales, sits the dreaded writer's block. A complete loss. A loss of wording, ideas, direction. Though it's dealt with many different ways- jittery nothings, such as Internet surfing, to bring about strokes of inspiration or deep meditation for instance- writer's block is highly effective in dragging the hands around a clock. Like trying to watch a plant grow. Changes are happening, but the process of watching these changes every second would surely lead to madness.

When I find myself at such a loss I turn to the Internet or my kids, who provide plenty of stimulation and opportunity for inspiration.

And so, it seems that sayings such as "time flies" and "a watched pot never boils" hold truth. Truth enough to be documented throughout history. Truth enough to annoy me at times! ;)

Do you ever experience time jetting past without your notice? What do you do to fight off writer's block?

Comments, funny stories, suggestions all welcome  ;)