How our emotions determine the way we view time

Over the years, the meaning of time has changed for most people. Just as a summer day at the age of six or seven seems to last forever, for a person who has lived on this earth for several decades, an entire year can disappear in the blink of an eye. According to neuroscience, it has to do with the brain’s perception of time and experience itself. In addition, a person’s emotional state determines how we view the passage of time. According to a study, researchers have found that people find time passes faster when their lives are full of time pressure, boredom and routine. Additionally, rather than living in the moment, more future-oriented people also perceive time to pass more quickly.[1]

However we view time, for every living being we have a limited number of units in our time account. For some, their units last into the 90s, while for others they run out of time in their 20s. In other words: whoever is born will also die. The period of time between a person’s date of birth and death forms their time account. Confronting death, whether one’s own or another’s, can cause great fear. And in some cases, gratitude.

For author Kate Banks, she took her last withdrawal in February 2024. After being diagnosed with stage 4 neuroendocrine cancer in 2022, she opted for medically assisted euthanasia in Basel, Switzerland. Before her transition, she wrote the finest collection of poems about the wonder of youth, fear and grief. An award-winning children’s author whose biography ranges from Maine to Rome to southern France, Banks captures the meaning of life—her life—in five sections, each containing a dozen or more poems. Her beautifully written words get to the heart of the matter: our lives are finite, even if that summer day many years ago felt like they weren’t.

The poem is the most chilling tribute to the life she lived well despite trauma, suffering and the early loss of her father to murder “In the ether” after whom her book is named.[2] She says goodbye to her body:

[1] Banks, K. (2024). Into the ether. Regal House Publishing.

Then the body is gently thrown off,

a worn garment, soiled and scarred,

and Soul leaves the house and closes the door.

Finally the body is free to begin its own exodus,

And the soul left the world to lift its wings and fly into the ether.

homeward.

It’s good to be at home, where the soul is

meets the self

And finally they say: “You did well.”

For anyone struggling with the loss of a loved one, Banks offers comforting and beautiful words. Most of us don’t know when our bank account will be empty. What matters most, she advises us, is what we do with what we have left.