On almost writing the date incorrectly, year after year

Posted on January 11, 2020 Updated on January 11, 2020

I like the shift to a new year. I like the way I start writing “19” and have to slow myself down and think about the date, think about the year. I like remembering that it’s “20.” I like correcting, mid-stroke, changing my “1” into a “2.” And I like the physical manifestation of my confusion, my hesitation, my redirection….

all on the page, recorded, a process reflected in the handwritten product.

I wonder if the reason why I like it so much is because of my love of the interruption—the moment when we stop following through on something that has become thoughtless, automatized, a habit. I like being jarred. I like the moment of waking up when I am already seemingly awake. I like the moment when we can become thoughtful and intentional, moving with awareness in a new direction.

Eventually, we will need to change again, making the correction when we move from “20” to “21.” And when that time comes, we will pause and adjust, pause and intentionally set off in that slightly new direction. That direction, too, will eventually become automatic. And we will, of course, eventually shift again as “21” gives way to “22.” And we will shift again. And again. And again.

And our messy numbers will testify to our ability to choose, to err, to correct. To sleepwalk. And, hopefully, to wake up.