Happy Montuewedthufrisat

No, what you see above is not some nonsensical phrase conjured up in the mind of Roald Dahl or a newly discovered wrinkle in the space/time continuum. It is the subject line of an actual email I received this week. After some initial confusion, deciphering the humor the scribe intended brought a smile to my face. But it also gave me pause. 

And pause, it has turned out, is what has been in pretty short supply. With every day seeming just like the one that came before it, we seem to have melted into a state of non-stop memorization of six-digit Zoom access codes, where time is of little import and day/date even less so.

With never having experienced a global pandemic, permanent WFH, and a non-stop news cycle of negativity (all at once!), these unprecedented times have us all humming along to an old favorite by the Steve Miller Band: Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’…into the future.  But as it turns out, what is happening to our brains actually has a scientific name and is what lies at the root of my friend’s subject line humor: It’s called Temporal Disintegration. And it’s affecting all of us.

On the (slight) upside, you can at least take respite in the fact that if you don't know what day it is, you're not alone. 

It’s a phenomenon, explains Dr. Alison Holman, a psychologist and associate professor of nursing at University of California, Irvine, in which people are unable to retain and organize information relating to time, how to do things in a sequential order, or what happened yesterday or the day before.

“For people who are staying in all the time,” she said, “the days meld in all together. There’s no distinction between the work week and weekend and you lose sense of time and what time it is.”

Helen Rosner, a writer for The New Yorker, Tweeted that her therapist described this weird time in our lives as "an infinite present," which feels pretty accurate. Rosner says, "[There are] no future plans, no anticipation of travel or shows or events or celebrations. It's an endless today, never tomorrow.

Our sense of time is governed in part by the emotions that we experience and the actions we perform. So if those actions are the same, day in and day out as they have been for most of us for the better part of three and a half months; enter Temporal Disintegration.

Couple that with all the heightened stress about our immediate futures and it's little wonder that we've lost track of something as simple as what day it is.

Fly Like an Eagle

When time is slippin’…fortunately there are a few ways in which an individual can regain that feeling of control and soar once again. I suggest something as simple as creating new routines — going for a (socially-distanced) walk, bike ride or snowshoe, weather permitting. Video-chatting with friends and family (the ones we like/tolerate) or venturing out masked-up to pick up the last roll of Charmin at $4/pop. Of course eating right and hitting the hay at a reasonable hour are kind of table stakes when it comes to general well-being. But you knew that.

SIDE NOTE: to avoid complete temporal meltdown, I implore you to be extremely cognizant of your media use. Sorry. Not sorry.

And for something I myself hadn’t thought of, Holman suggests "calling upon your past to help your present." Recalling moments in the past where you've overcome emotional stress and seeing what you can take from those experiences during this time, she said, "can give you control for the present and do something to move toward a positive future."

An opportunity for change

More importantly, she suggests, honing your "core sense of social responsibility" helps you retain a sense of purpose and responsibility during a time where that feels difficult. And that advice has never come at a better time, methinks. With all that is going on around us, the opportunity to affect change in both your own mind and society at large, at once, has never been greater. My advice: take it.

"(Take) responsibility for supporting your neighbors, your community. The more you support them, the healthier your community will be." Holman said. "That can give you a future."

A future where Temporal Disintegration was merely temporary. Where we might actually remember what day it is. 

It’s Wednesday, right?