Musee International d'horlogie: Perceptions of Time

A quick bus ride to La Chaux de Fonds brought us to a New York style city; block after block of buildings and long straight road your eyes could follow to their convergence.  Our first goal, however, was to visit the Musee international d'horlogie. Visiting this museum made me realize how much time mankind has been obsessed with measuring time (ha-ha. Get it?). But of course one can argue so many concepts of time too. Time may have a determined set constant, but it can be perceived in so many different ways. For example, why does it sometimes seem to move fast, and sometimes slow?

Time is even one of the main considerations in travel. How long will it take to reach our destination? How many days will we spend there? There is no doubt time effects the way we travel. The longer it takes to get somewhere, the more value we tend to place on the destination. The time we decide to spend at a place can change the way we travel. A short trip may lead to full days of visiting all the main attractions of a place, where long ones may allow immersion into the place, the culture, and the people.

Travel used to be something that took time. It was not just a matter of hoping aboard a plane and ending up in another part of the world. Travel used to take time, possibly days or months, and therefore time can also be seen as a privilege. It can also be seen as a hindrance or a deadline. It changes meaning and importance in different contexts. Seeing all the clocks, watches, and methods on which humans have used to tell time made me realize that although time is important, it is also deceiving. We change our actions in relation to it; we make decisions based upon it. But most importantly, we must remember that time is essentially what we make it.