Those of you in the bloom of youth — yea, even unto middle-age — might not yet be aware of a double-edged thing that happens as you get older. Allow me to speak of this:
1) The speed of time increases.
2) Your memory regarding time degrades.
A thing you do, a movie you saw, a song you liked that your degraded memory gives you?
One that was only a couple years ago? This can — and will — turn out to be much, much longer than that when you look for the evidence.
Had a conversation online yesterday in which I spoke of training with a spear in my martial art. Only been a year or two since I started down that road, right?
Um. Well, Stevie, actually, no.
You bought a wooden training spear in 2017. A couple entry-level live-bladed weapons in 2019. Your first designed-for-your-art spear, custom-made by Chuck Pippin was in January, 2023. Your ultimate Damascus spear Ch’elema — Our Lady of Darkness — again from Mastersmith Pippin, arrived in the middle of 2025.
Moreover, your first thoughts on drills, djurus, langkahs, and a pedagogy? Why, you wrote that down in October of 2022.
The first two spear djurus were created between January and May, 2023. The third djuru came in June, 2024. You did eight short reference videos covering this material, in January, 2025.
You been doing this a while, Stevie. Don’t listen to your degraded memory. Write things down, and then look ‘em up when you want to feel bad about losing your marbles. If you can remember where you put the file.
I am about ready to hide my own Easter eggs — assuming, of course, I know what they are when I see them. Still, I can tell the difference between a horsie and a tiger, so I must be smart, right?
