#austinkleon
"When we talk about time, we usually refer to the past as being behind us and the future being ahead of us.
"This space-time arrangement seems so totally natural to us, it’s hard to imagine what it would be like to think otherwise.
"Years ago, I read about the Aymara, a tribe of Indigenous people in South America who have a way of thinking about time that’s the complete reverse of our own.
"They refer to the future as “back” or “behind” time, and the past as “front” time.
"When they speak about the past, they gesture ahead of them, and when they speak about the future, they gesture behind them.
"The reason they point ahead when talking about the past is that the past is known—it has already happened, therefore, it’s in front of you, where you can see it.
"The future, on the other hand, is unknown—it hasn’t happened yet, so it’s behind you, where you can’t see it.
"I read about this almost fifteen years ago and it still blows my mind.
"The past is in front of us. The future is behind us."
-- Quote from page 150 of "Don't Call It Art: 10 Ways to Create Like a Kid Again", Book by Austin Kleon