Sunday, March 13, 2016

Punctuating Days

There are days filled with exclamation points--of excitement, or conflict, or disaster. There are days filled with commas--lists of things to do and things that just go on. There are days filled with periods--the signs of choices having been made, and fate having been accepted. And there are days filled with question marks, when it seems as though no decision will ever be made, no resolution ever accomplished. Most of the time, however, days are a mixture of all of these kinds of punctuation, a combination of absolute certainty and profound uncertainty, a roller coaster of calm and excitement, and an ongoing to-do, to-think, and to-feel list.

And then there was today, which perhaps included all of these, but which added one more. Today, in between the "!!!" of working overnight on both ends and the ",,," of getting things done, there was the "..." of sleep. For a few necessary hours, in between all the other necessities, there was sleep, a pause--an ellipsis of sorts--to rest, to process, to prepare for the punctuation ahead.

We might believe that the best way to live is in exclamation points, making the most of every life moment. We might count on question marks to make sure we find all the right information. We might feel most secure when we can live by periods, or most productive when we work with a lot of commas.

But sometimes, "..." is the healthiest thing we can do for ourselves. When we allow ourselves that pause in the action, we recharge to ready ourselves for the other punctuation. And, after all, what's a good life story without some really powerful punctuation?

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