November 1, 2023

Energy

I really like this article on Energy and Time, especially this part:

but this begs the question: what happens to all the energy that went into growing the tree once it dies? If there are 30, 50, 100+ years stored inside those tree rings, where does it all go in the end?

Considering it’s the sun which powers the growth of a tree, it seems to me there are two paths for this energy: 1) the long decay . . . rotting, or 2) the nuclear reaction . . . fire.

I think about the latter every time I throw a log onto a campfire—the years of sunshine being released at once—maybe that’s why you can stare at a fire for hours without getting bored. All those sunny days going back into the atmosphere is hard to ignore.

But this newsletter isn’t about physics. It’s about humans. So while the sun drives the growth of trees, and life in general, there’s another force of nature, equally universal, which allows our growth as individuals—time….

Unlike the trees, of course, we have the free will to choose when and where our time energy is both collected and dispensed. Meaning we can always redirect our time toward something else if and when we see fit.

I never really thought about time that way, but I have been thinking about it a lot since reading this essay. Choosing how to spend time is one of the most (and least) satisfying things someone can do. We each have the same amount of time each day, and what we do with it can drastically affect just about everything around us.