I was struck by recent essays in The Atlantic (“The Psychological Secret to Longevity”) and SuperAge (“Why Time Speeds Up as We Age and How to Slow it Down”), both pointing to something I’ve felt for years—time accelerates in midlife, yet the opportunity for depth, meaning, and presence becomes more urgent than ever. As MEA faculty member Arthur Brooks writes, “your subjective sense of things going slowly, and then speeding up, is real. But you can also control it.” (The Atlantic) That combination of speed + agency is powerful.
In Brooks’s piece, he reminds us that while our perception of time warps—days blur together, months fly by—there are practices that stretch time, make it dense with memory, full of meaning. He notes: “Meaning is greater than fun.” It’s not about packing more novelty just for novelty’s sake, but about choosing experiences and relationships that echo, that leave tracings in our hearts.
Meanwhile, SuperAge explores why we feel time speeding up—familiar routines, fewer firsts, more autopilot living—and what we can do to slow the surge. Novelty, being present, changing your environment, seeking experiences that force you awake: these are tools not just for youth, but for midlife awakening.
Here’s what stands out to me: as we age, time isn’t just something we run out of—it’s something we can steward. There’s a kind of freedom in that recognition. If I have fewer years ahead than behind, then now becomes prime time to lean into what matters: conversations I’ve postponed, curiosity I’ve dulled, beauty I’ve skipped past because I thought I had “other time.”
So what’s the way forward?
- Seek out moments where time expands: firsts, unfamiliar places, meaningful work.
- Treat your calendar as sacred. Say no with gusto.
- Remember memento mori—not as morbidity, but as clarity: remembering we will die helps us live now fully.
Time will speed up. But parts of it can also stretch, deepen, and contain. We can’t stop it, but we can weave it with intention. Here’s to making the rest of our chapters luminous—with wisdom, presence, and the kind of slowing that doesn’t feel like giving up, but like coming alive.
-Chip