Time Travel – Get Ready, Get Set, Go
/Time Travel And Romance
Meandering about on Twitter, I stumbled across a review of romance time travel novels. Time travel and romance?
Romance time travel writers have an interesting conundrum.
Can someone remain in the past? Is it possible for someone to stay in the future and cope with all the changes?
How do you address the languages? Health practices? Foods?
Not For The Faint Of Heart
Time travel makes for an intriguing read of fiction. I'd love to time travel, romance or not. I'd be content to be a will-of-the-wisp, a ghost-like figure that floated around to witness events. But even more, I'd like to jump back into the thick of things.
World history weaves a colorful time tapestry. European history dances across these intricately woven threads. Patterns emerge of emotions and thoughts, architecture, valor and despair.
I want to know more, up close and personal.
We read about castles that no longer exist, then we're shown drawings of how we imagine they appeared. But, I want to see and feel them, not imagine them.
I want to experience the bustle of people in the castle courtyards and look up and see guards on the ramparts.
Details Of The Past
I want to...
hear the roar of laughter of people in taverns, and the clanking of blacksmiths at the forge,
smell the loam of the fields at early dawn, and feel the earthen footpaths beneath my feet,
savor freshly-made apple cider, and nibble warm hot-cross buns straight out of brick ovens,
feel dancing breezes as they ruffle my hair, and swoon to the fragrant scent of ripening fields,
wander in the thick underbrush of wild forests, and listen to howling wolves who thrived long before they were beaten back by modern sprawl.
At least, that's what I tell myself.
When we launch into the fourth dimension of time travel and head too far into the past, I crash-land into my suspension of disbelief.
Time Travel Is Fraught With Danger
If we dropped into the medieval period, we would be hard pressed to understand anything the locals said. Europe was a vast, untamed wilderness dotted with small villages, each with their own dialect.
How would we explain where we are from? The definition of a foreigner was anyone not from their own town. Even someone from a nearby village was viewed with great suspicion.
How strange do you think we would sound to them?
So strange, I dare say, that we could easily end up stoned to death as a witch. That could put a damper on the fun.
Vaccines, Sanitation And Medications
When you travel back in time, do your vaccinations from today still protect you? That would be handy in the face of smallpox or polio. My heart aches every time I consider that Louis XV suffered a vile death, all for want of a smallpox vaccine.
Let's say your vaccines protect you – if should you choose to stay in the past, the days of your life would be shortened, realistically, by about 30 years. The average life span in 1900 was age 45.
Our modern lifespans are epxanded due to vaccinations, antibiotics and sanitation.
What if you get hurt and the wound becomes infected? Today, it is easily treated with antibiotics. Back then, it could rapidly transform into a raging systemic infection; time to write your obituary.
The heart attacks and strokes that zipped us off the planet in a hurry are now held at bay with blood pressure medications, stents, and heart valve replacements.
Important note: don't have a baby while time traveling. Women and infants commonly died in childbirth. This was accepted as one of the facts of life, par for the course.
During the time of Louis IX (1200s), an infant was rushed to baptism immediately after birth, even without the mother who was still recovering. Infant mortality rate was so high, they wanted to ensure the child had a place in heaven.
Our Films Depict The Past, They Lie
We have a wealth of movies depicting many time periods. Movie stars, with their flawless skin and perfect sets of teeth, all take turns enacting historical figures. Our movie-camera techniques are advanced enough that even a glaring pimple is artfully erased from a starlet's face.
In the past, we looked nothing like our cinema stars of today.
In the French court, both men and women wore heavy, white, lead makeup with garish red spots for rouge. For sex-appeal today, they are seldom portrayed in the true makeup of the time. (See the movie cover above depicting the French King, Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour without period make-up.)
People didn't bathe often or wash their faces. Many layers of caked makeup accumulated. The lead and mercury in makeup foundations took its toll on everyone's health as it slowly poisoned them.
Health Issues And Smelling The Past
Another thing about our movies – we can't smell the past.
Could our modern day sensibilities handle the chamber pots filled with excrement tossed into the streets each morning?
Could we stomach the bodily odors from people who bathed only twice a year?
Imagine trying to set a broken bone without the benefit of an ultrasound for alignment. Surgical pins placed in bones did not exist and shattered bones may not be set at all, leaving you lame and crippled.
The teeth you were born with were the teeth you got. Crooked? Just be thankful you have them. Without good dental hygiene, teeth rotted, fell out and were never replaced.
Of course, we don't want to watch movies with dirty, toothless actors who are disfigured and crippled. So our main characters act out their roles blemish-free with clean, coiffed hair and gleaming, capped teeth.
The Radiance Technique® And Time Travel
Students of The Radiance Technique® (TRT®) are able to connect with history as well as individuals from the past. Those who have studied The Second Degree of The Radiance Technique® are able to direct universal energy across time and space through a specific technique they are taught in their course. The events of history do not change, but supportive energy is made available.
For students of The First Degree of The Radiance Technique®, apply TRT® hands-on while studying historical events. With TRT® hands-on, you support healing and balancing of your feelings and attitudes regarding historical events. You become more aware of the people and their situations.
I know I don't want to be in any century – past, present or future – without TRT®.
Reality Versus Magic
Oh, reality, you knave. How you destroy my suspension of disbelief.
This messy state of human life, that we call reality, threatens to derail my fanciful flight across time. We talk of the possibility of time travel which, in and of itself, is magical and can surely overcome any complications.
The romance time travel authors are a brave lot. Or foolhardy, some might say.
How many of these details do they skip over? How many do they address? Despite all the challenges, I hope they keep writing as we all benefit from a little magic in our lives.
It's probably obvious that I work in the medical field. Yet, with all my misgivings, I'm ready to time travel.
Time Travel With A Few Conditions
Okay, let's go!
Back in time!
Um, as long as I can return when I want.
And, I want to be assured that I'll be able to speak and understand the native languages.
And, I'd like to take a few medications with me.
And, well, maybe I could pack a reference book or two to help me out with historical details.
Time Travel Portal
Do you have a preference for which time portal you'd like to use?
A police box whirling through the cosmos? An empty arch waiting on a deserted planet?
When and where would you like to go?
