“Life is a series of moments.”

It’s been said before, but usually without explanation.

We divide up time so that we can more easily gauge chronology and keep track of events.

This meeting will take place during a moment in time three hours from now.

That ski trip in Colorado took place during a moment in time two years ago.

These moments can last a long or very short amount of time, but the length is fairly arbitrary compared to what goes on during the moments and how they transition.

For example, I find that I shift into a new moment when I move to a new location, or even just visit a location for more than a a few days and then leave. I spent New Year’s Eve in Chicago this year, and the week or so I was there stands out as a fun and eventful moment in my memory.

The time I spent in Argentina was a whole lot longer (four months) and consisted of a much greater number of experiences, but still is encapsulated within a single moment of its own.

In both cases, the moment was brought to an end by a change in geographic location. I left.

In the latter case I ended up jaunting through South America for a bit (another moment), while in the former I hopped a bus back to Columbia to spend more time with my family before leaving the country again (my current moment).

The thing is, we can control the changeover between moments, and it’s not necessary to change your location to do so, it’s about changing your perspective.

Say one day you decide that you’re not going to eat meat anymore. Boom, you’ve just entered your vegetarian moment.

Maybe you’ve come to terms with the fact that you’re gay or agnostic or a closet Republican, and from now on you’re going to act on those hidden desires. New moment, baby. Enjoy it.

Maybe it’s a new year and you want to start it off with a bang.

Here’s the question: what moment will you begin?

And equally important: what moment will you end?

Update: February 3, 2017

I still tend to organize time this way, though I find for longer stretches, when I’m in one place for a while and have more habits and rituals, I tend to compartmentalize using other things. The books I read or am writing, the dominant projects I’m spending my time on, etc.