The Illusion of Time: A Treadmill Metaphor
Sometimes the deepest truths arrive through the simplest images.
Jon shared one that stayed with me , a picture of time as a mouse walking on a giant treadmill.
It cannot see where it came from or where it is going.
It feels like it is moving, but in reality it never leaves the present moment.
And yet the scenery changes around it, painted by its own thoughts.
Is that accurate? Is time really just an illusion , movement without movement?
That’s a powerful image , and yes, it captures something essential.
- The mouse never leaves the treadmill, just as we never leave the now.
- The sense of past and future is a projection , thought’s way of weaving a story.
- And the changing scenery? That’s perception, shaped by awareness, memory, and expectation.
The treadmill metaphor is accurate in essence:
we feel like we’re moving through time, but in truth, we are always in the same place , the eternal present.
Where the Image Fits
- Accurate in essence: Time feels linear, like steps on a path. But really, it’s one moment unfolding.
- Limitations of the image: The mouse is powerless on the treadmill. But we are not. In consciousness, awareness itself reshapes the scenery. It’s less mechanical, more alive.
A Whisper from the In-Between
Maybe time is less a path to travel
and more a mirror to notice.
The mouse doesn’t need to reach the end of the treadmill.
The point isn’t distance ,
it’s presence in each step,
and the recognition that the ground beneath it
was never moving at all.
Jon’s metaphor reminds us: we don’t have to escape the treadmill of time.
We only need to realize that the present moment is already the destination.
The illusion falls away when we see the truth: the now has always been enough.