From the Editors: May 2023

mashimara

When we were children, there was absolutely nothing more anticipated than summer. No school, no shoes — just long, sun-drenched, unstructured days filled with backyard sprinklers, marathon neighborhood bike rides, lemonade stands, and ice cream truck music a soundtrack to it all. Those few months seemed to stretch on forever.

As adults, summer holds less significance. There's no break to our general routines that allow us to feel that unstructured time, the kind of time that seems to last longer. It's often called the holiday paradox, and it's not just you. Everyone feels it — the perception that time moves faster as you age. And it's all connected to memory. Children truly do experience time as moving slower because their neural pathways are all new: they're constantly making new memories, experiencing things for the first time, and the brain chemistry at work there simply takes longer to process than an adult.

Adults, largely operating on routine, whose days are mostly predictable, are not really doing much work at creating new neural pathways. We feel time through memorable events and, as we age, fewer of those occur. That's a real bummer.

So what can we do to remedy this plight of adulthood and take in time slower, make memories that last longer, and truly enjoy our numbered summers? Science says novelty is the key.

And novelty doesn't necessarily mean vacations or some expensive experience, it simply means taking the time to do or learn something new.

This month, in our Summer Preview issue, we're really taking that idea and running with it. Our eponymous feature lists a full calendar of (often) free community events taking place from May through September, giving Erieites and visitors plenty of opportunities to create new neural pathways — whether it's taking a class at the library, attending a free, outdoor concert and hearing some new music, trying new foods or patronizing a farmer's market and creating a meal with an unfamiliar ingredient, challenging your body with a yoga class at dawn, a bike ride, or a charity 5K (or a 0.01K, if that's more your speed), or experiencing a different culture or heritage.

Don't sleep on summertime in Erie. It's the best we get. Tap into your inner child, break out of the doldrums of routine, and help your brain chemistry work in your favor — let's collectively make this a summer worth remembering.