[ Originally posted as Newsletter on 10/21/2015 ]
Good morning,
I’m at the airport with 20 minutes to get this out to you.
I love flying because it gives me time. Not just “time to myself” to read, reflect, plan, and daydream while staring out the window at tiny landscapes below, but also the real experience of having “just a little more” time while I’m in the air.
In physics, the closer you travel to the speed of light, the more you experience time dilation compared to those on the ground. Einstein’s favorite light travel experiment highlighted this. You can look it up and think it through yourself. Honestly, it’s fun.
Because of this, I feel like flying is my way of harnessing time itself. Yeah, planes don’t move close to the speed of light, but they move faster than my sauntering stroll through the woods, or my Bronco on the roadways of little Rhody.
My writing time (yes, I checked it to make sure Gate 14 was “there” before I backed up to this table), is running short in part because after TSA, I wound up dragging my emotional support sweater for 3 gates which covered it in black rubber marks. So I had a long pit-stop trying to save it with soap, water and fancy hand dryers (TF Green airport has some of the nicest public bathrooms I’ve ever been in)
I love airports because you can witness people’s “emotional support” habits too: how some wrap themselves in layers, some walk with pillows around their necks, some have pets and fancy bags, and some get busy like me with devices and occasional glances at their fair-to-middling cup of coffee.
Happy journey to you today and many thanks for reading,
Elizabeth
