Sunday, June 28, 2015

What if a year takes longer than 365 days?


When I started with my gap year towards the end of 2013 I borrowed a few definitions for GAP YEAR and YEAR.

A GAP YEAR: In the professional or career world, a gap year is a year before or after taking a new direction - or even during the same old direction, when a gap year is known as a sabbatical.

A YEAR is the orbital period of the Earth moving in its orbit around the Sun, almost precisely 365 days.

And therefore, like Lewis Carroll and any project manager would confirm, did ‘begin at the beginning, and go on till you come to the end: Then stop’.

But what if the end is not the end? What if a year takes longer than 365 days?

I learned that the Great Year, or equinoctial cycle, which corresponds to a complete revolution of the equinoxes around the ecliptic: Its length is about 25,700 years. And I learned about the Galactic year which is the time it takes Earth's solar system to revolve once around the galactic center: It comprises roughly 230 million Earth years.

Therefor, I'm consciously continuing my gap year and the documenting thereof, because like Wonderland's Oraculum, it illustrates and tells of adventures - happenings and thoughts - during the gap year of an quinquagenarian.