Sixty seconds waiting for a bus drags. Sixty seconds hugging someone at the airport is gone before you blink.

Time is measured evenly and felt unevenly, and the difference is mostly where your attention has gone. Waiting stretches because nothing is holding you, and good minutes vanish because you are entirely inside them. Neither is a trick of the clock, but both are worth recognizing.

When you are in something you want to keep, slow down on purpose and fix on one detail: a face, a sound, where you were standing. When you are stuck waiting, stop fighting it and let it be dull. The skill is knowing which of the two you are in.