People often relive past experiences or “pre-live” future events, looking for stories that make sense of these experiences in the present moment.

Such meaning cannot be found in objective time, which portrays time as constant and immutable. If all units of time are equivalent, then one time period means no more or less than any other. In contrast, the meaning of subjective time derives from spending one’s hours and days on purposeful and significant activities. 

Whereas objective time focuses on the clock and calendar as a measure of time external to individuals, subjective time brings in the internal, personal experience of time.

In this way, subjective time reflects how people perceive, interpret, and me...