To answer the initial question: a decade is exactly ten years. That’s it. No hidden meanings. No tricks. Unless you’re talking about a decade on Mars, which is about 18.5 Earth years—but that’s a whole different article.
But if you want the real, human answer: a decade is the time it takes for a baby to become a fifth-grader. It’s the time it takes for a fashion trend to cycle from cool to cringe to cool again. It’s the time it takes for you to absolutely forget what you did last Tuesday, but still vividly remember a single conversation from 2014.
So next time you hear “a decade,” don’t just think about those ten years. Think about your ten years. The ones that flew by. The ones that dragged. The ones that changed you. Because a decade isn’t just a number—it’s a container for a whole lot of life. And yes, you’re allowed to laugh when someone asks, “Is that a hundred years?” because honestly, sometimes it feels like it.
