This is a 365-word essay about the passing of time written and performed by artist Henry Brown, who recorded himself speaking a single word of the essay every day in 2025. An impressive feat. If I’d attempted the same thing there’s no way my essay would be longer than four, maybe six words. The full thing:

What is a year? When I was younger, anything over a few minutes was inconceivable. Going somewhere “in an hour” might as well have meant tomorrow. These days, next weekend comes around before I’ve even finished processing last week; and my August is already fully booked at the start of the year. And a year sometimes feels like nothing at all. I suppose this is inevitable. Everyone laments that time speeds up as you get older. And it’s fair — units of time are like the routes you regularly travel. By the hundredth time you make the trip to work, or your partner’s house, or the grocery store, you know what comes after every turn. And the journey feels so much shorter than when everything was new. But— is time really flying? Right now, I’m twenty-five – twenty-six years old. In just 4 years, I’ll be 30. But how can I say that my twenties “flew past” if I can’t remember what I did on [June 15, 2025]? It’s impossible to hold all the moments of your life all the time. Sure. But pick a random date 5 years ago, and try to remember exactly what you did and felt. Chances are that it’ll start feeling a lot further away. Like I was a completely different person at 20. Still me, only a different me. So then— since when have I been THIS me? 14-year-old me was definitely someone else, but last February feels just as foreign to me sometimes. How much DO the circumstances of my life need to change before I can consider myself… evolved? Maybe I get to decide. Cause theoretically, I am not the me who wrote this sentence. Nor am I the me who’s uploading this video. And who knows who I’ll be by the time you watch/see this. All these versions of me may look similar, but there’s a new “me” in my skin every day, each carrying a different set of experiences, and a different outlook on life. Making decisions to the best of his abilities. It’s hard to imagine THIS me making meaningful changes to my life, but three hundred sixty-five me’s might just make a difference.

Time really is flying by, like a bounce house in high winds. I’ve been trying to get it to slow down lately but have had zero luck. I’ll blink and be 800. “Did you mean 80?” Noooooo…I’m already pushing 600. “Not with the undead warlock thing again.” You think I want to be like this? I was cursed! With a monster johnson too.