Veritum dies aperit (Time Discovers The Truth)

"Lost time is never found again."

-Ben Franklin

At 7:00 pm EST, the year that was 2005 will gain an extra second. The adjustment to time will take place by adding one second into clocks worldwide at the stroke of midnight Coordinated Universal Time. Personally I am not greatly pleased about this year having any extra time in it. I won't miss 2005 for a number of reasons, the dreadful worldwide catastrophe's, some personal losses and of course the change of residence for my journal Ellipsis. On the other hand this year also saw some personal gains for me, like the building a some new, wonderful friendships and even the gift of repairing some damaged relationships. I guess it was like any other year...with the sweet comes the bitter. I am here to write about it so I am lucky to have that, and if nothing else, I think 2005 gave me a lesson in being much more aware that to lose any time spent with your passions is a sad thing. That extra second will be added to my life this Saturday at 4:00 pm Pacific time, I wonder how I should use it well? A second is a long time, you become aware of that when you stop to measure it.

It took a PSA airplane 7 seconds to crash to the earth, after a midair collision over the skies of San Diego, in 1978.

What could be done in 7 seconds?

You could dial the phone number of someone you love.
You could laugh.
You could say "I'm sorry" "Forgive me" "I forgive you."
You could pet your cat or dog.
You could make a face at a child so they can laugh.
You can look in the mirror and smile at yourself.
You can think a good thought someone's way.
You can choose to remember one good memory, and choose to forget a bad one.
You can really look through the lens of a camera and visualize what the photo you are about to take will look like. Someday the photo will be a part of history, as well as your own personal history.

In the days after Hurricane Katrina devestated New Orleans, it was estimated that the pumps used to return the flood waters back to Lake Ponchatrain, pumped as much as 380 cubic meters (380,000 liters or 23,190, 000 cubic inches) of water every second.

Now...what to do with one second...

You can smile at a someone you love.
You can fart.
You can allow that fleeting idea you have about reaching out, come alive by dropping someone an email to say "I thought about you today."
You can sneeze.
You can kiss.
You can take a cleansing breath and give yourself a break.
You can take the opportunity to go with whatever idea you have.

I believe that everything, good or bad, begins with one second. While I am not particularly happy about any additional time being added to the year, I am also aware that the extra second doesn't have to go unnoticed or feared...after all maybe it is in actuality a "second chance."

-OndineMonet
"Time Enough"
San Francisco Ferry Building
San Francisco, California
Summer, 2005
Early Morning