WINDUP CLOCKS

In the old days, there were windup clocks that you put on your nightstand to wake you in the morning.  The trouble was, they made a distinctive tick-tock sound that often kept you awake half the night. 

These days clocks are electric, digital, and make not sound whatsoever.  As a result, you experience time as a soundless blur.  Indeed, there are people today who will live their entire lives as just this soundless blur, until one day they look up and find themselves in old age.

The advantage of windup clocks, accordingly, is that you can hear time passing, one second after another, which invariably reminds you of "memento mori," which means "remember death."  Pay attention to your life, the windup clocks seem to say, appreciate it, make the best of it.  It will soon be over.