time is a snake eating its tail

What is time? It is a serpent which eats its tail, like this: (picture of a serpent eating its tail, forming a circle). — Kurt Vonnegut

I love this quote. I hate snakes though. But in Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut has his little drawing of the snake eating its tail. I learned many years later that a snake eating its tail is called an ouroboros. The ouroboros is a very ancient symbol that has several meanings. Often it is used as a symbol of eternity, wholeness, infinity, and life and death. If you are scared of snakes, I don't recommend you google this. Apparently some snakes can actually bite their tail in real life...so you will get the cute Vonnegut cartoon and some horrific photos of snakes.

Vonnegut is obsessed with time in his novels and here he seems to be commenting on the cyclical nature of time. Ouroboros can also symbolize repeating cycles that act progressively. As in time is always speeding up. Looking back on the topics I keep gravitating towards in these daily writings, time seems to be the common theme. So it goes. I think this is why I am so drawn to Vonnegut's books. Maybe I feel like I need to make the most of my time. And I have spent the last decade trying to optimize my way to more time. But each year that goes by, I am no closer to figuring it out. Maybe that is the point. I will not figure it out. Maybe we are not meant to figure it out. I will just keep eating my tail until there is no time left?