November 07, 2018
Loss has nothing to do with the past and everything to do with the future. You can’t lose what has already happened; the past is immutable. But loss feels like it has nothing to do with the future and everything to do with the past.
When you lose something, it’s natural to think back on its presence in your life. The day you (say) move away from a beloved city, you look back on all the good times you’ve enjoyed there. But you already lost those experiences: you lost them the moment they finished happening (the moment they became past), and they’re no more gone now than they were right then.
You can’t lose what’s already in the past—you’ve already lost it. Time is continuous; why do we feel loss all at once?