Things that you remember are what make up your life

Nice concept in this article about how our brains manipulate our perception of time.

NY Mag: How Your Brain Controls the Speed of Time

The article explains that your brain doesn't actually speed up in moments of danger. This is how it does it:

What this tells us is that our brains don’t speed up when we’re in danger. Instead, the rush of fear hormones causes the brain to retain richer memories of what’s happening. This is related to the “flashbulb effect” that enables us to remember every color, sound, and smell of an emotionally powerful event. This is obviously useful from an evolutionary perspective: If you survive a life-or-death encounter, it could prove useful someday to remember exactly how you did it.

I really liked the way the author closes the article:

There’s an important big-picture upshot to all of this. If you want to live a long time, you should stick to a hard-and-fast regimen of regular exercise and healthy food. Your sleep schedule should run like a Swiss railroad. But if you want your life to seem like it’s lasting a long time, pack it with surprises. Experience intense emotions in unfamiliar environments. Connect with strangers and eat weird things. Scream, laugh, cry. These are the things you remember — and the things you remember are what make up your life.