Time Does Not Fly

Because of gravity the earth is in orbit around the sun. So are other planets and extra-terrestrial bodies. The earth is not a flying object. Saying something is flying implies it has moved from a resting place and will probably land somewhere. Space is neither land nor sea. There is nowhere to land on space. Space is space. If you’re at a certain distance from the earth, moving at a velocity a little below the earth’s escape velocity, you’ll end up in an orbit around the earth. You won’t be flying. You’ll be moving in an orbit.
That said, time does not fly. Time on the earth is a function of its movement in orbit around the sun. And because the earth and the sun do not fly, time does not also fly. Time is a constant. It’s as constant as clockwork. Newtonian mechanics says so and we all know Newtonian mechanics is wrong. Before you start quarreling with Newton and Galileo, let me also assure you that at the scope of the world you live in and see most of what they said about motion is true. So yes, time does not fly. The earth moves in orbit, so does time.
There are about 24 hours in everyday. It takes about 365 days for the earth to move round the sun. It never flies. Rather than fly to 365, some years extend to 366. I wouldn’t call that flying, would you? You have more time on your hands than you know. You just don’t realize how much time you have. And when you finally realize how long you’ve been waiting at a spot, you think time flew. Time didn’t fly. You were just dormant. Get a move on! Don't wait till the end of the year before you realize the year has started. And please don't wait till your forties to come out of folly. Start and start early. And when you start, keep going. Don't ever stop.
Imagine the tortoise and the hare. Both agreed to a race and all the pundits awarded the race to the hare, what with his mighty speed and swift movements. The hare took off and the tortoise trudged along. Some kilometers into the race the hare decided to take a nap. He figured it would take the tortoise ages to get there. While he was napping the tortoise dragged past. When the hare got to the finish line, he saw the tortoise at the finish line. Can you imagine his surprise? He thought it was a short nap and he'd surely wonder how time flew within the short period he took a nap.
The tortoise’s secret wasn’t his slowness, it was his steadiness. He kept right on moving, one step at a time. Time doesn’t fly. Time is probably slow, any time spent waiting will reveal as much. Time is steady. In your best interest, be as steady as the earth on its path round the sun. The hare finished poorly because he forgot the middle walk. He started strong, lost focus after the beginning then woke up at the end only to discover how time had flown!
Aren’t we usually like that? We start with a lot of resolve and then decide to take a quick nap along the way. A wise teacher wrote that short naps are the fastest route to long bouts of poverty. Quickies are indeed quickies. The only problem is that they tend to quicken negatives.
Sometimes I think the movement of time is actually an illusion. I think a better way to say it is that our perception of the movement of time is misleading. During times of inactivity time seems to drag along and we assume we have more time than we actually do. After a long while we wake up and discover how much time has flown! How enigmatic!
Let me end here lest I overstress the point and do it more injustice than it deserves. It took you about two minutes to read this short piece, did you know that? Time really does fly, doesn’t it?

Colonies and Emperors

The very first step in acquiring a territory is hoisting a flag. It is that simple. Just get a piece of cloth, color them with your least favored set of rigid colors, and nail your painted piece of cloth to a stake, preferably a long one. Congrats, you have a flag. Now, just get an uninhabited land, island, sea, moon, asteroid, planet, star or galaxy and hoist your flag. More congratulations to you! You’re now an emperor.
If you’re the emperor of a hitherto uninhabited land you won’t go through the pain the colonists went through- the pain of stealing from somebody else, the pain of having to explain the theft away as being for the affected party’s benefit and then the very big pain of having to live with the other pains.
On Emperors: they’re usually smart. Take it from me. Acquiring territory isn’t easy work. It’s the cause for wars- physical, legal, financial and so on. They waged wars and fought battles just because of territory. Sometimes I think they fought wars and waged battles.  Why fight over a little corner of the Earth when all of Mars is free? Makes little sense to me. Maintaining territory isn’t easy work as well. Microsoft versus Apple on the former’s use of the icons the latter designed for hardware in software. But guess what? Steve Jobs stood up and so did Apple.
Imitation is more labor than you can afford. You ought to know that. A dormant brain is more expensive to keep than a working one. If you’re excellent at copying you deserve a prize. It means you’re a genius who has only focused his attention on copying. Try using that brain well. Draw a circle; flip a switch; read the billboards. Who says you can’t fly backwards or walk upwards? Forget Hollywood and their flying cars. Think Nollywood and their bicycles that sound like locomotive trains. It’s called Kinging, not just creativity. Call it “emperoring” if you like
Pick a space, wherever in space, that is uniquely yours. Uniqueness is our birthright. Learn to meddle in your space. You’ll find it becomes easier to meddle out of other people’s affairs. Seriously, create your space. Develop your colony. Build your kingdom. It’s not just about gathering subjects. Good emperors don’t make their empires about how many subjects they have. The best emperors know how to serve. Ask the world’s greatest leader ever, and it’s not Alexander the Great. Don’t build a house that will die with you. That’s all!
Don’t mould anybody into yourself. You’re too much trouble for the world, as it were. Don’t also decide to be a guinea rat, a tool for experiments. Yes, the world needs you. Yes too, the world needs only one of you. Hoist your flag in your territory. Keep it flying!

Another Homecoming

Round and round, around and around, up and about. And the winter, now gone, has left me with harsh reminders of the beauty of the winter that is now gone. And while spring now is here, I look at the beauty of the Earth, the colored images of the atmosphere and the smiles of the skies. And I remember the beauty I now see and I also remember the beauty I missed- the cold whites of the winter now gone. And I remember the faces of the newborn flowers I’ll now see, happy to be rid of the nuts and bolts of autumn and her close friend. The nostalgia remains afterwards. You’ll wish you went right on painting the mountains and the valleys during the winter. Or that you at least went out bowling with Santa. Winter has its fine points. Madagascar penguins are good witnesses.
And perhaps now that the Eastern sun is pressing its fresh, noble gaze on us, we will bask in its glory and once again sing our songs of night. Another Nite of Sine perhaps.
It is a privilege to be the son who came home, to be the one who returned after the years of wandering. New beginnings aren’t worse off than old beginnings. It is a privilege and a blessing to start all over again. The one who comes back won't be turned away. He won't.
Some things we can never leave. Some things can never leave us. Divorce is a myth invented by ancient aliens who never existed. We love those things like they love us, from that place deeper than the cleft in the bottoms of our heart of hearts. Life is quite simple. Don't keep wandering. Just go home. And home is that place where the heart belongs. Follow your heart. It'll lead you home. It is good to be back. I sincerely hope I have been missed, as I have missed you all…