Come on. It’s a cool number, isn’t it? 01-01-11?
I love when dates dive into delicious and satisfying strings, when digits fall into obsequious and obedient order, when they arrange themselves into a poetic pattern that pleases me.
Who doesn’t notice the tidy affectation of 1-1-11? Or the distinct delight that comes at certain hours of the day, for example, 4:44 or 5:55?
Safety in numbers, order from chaos
Is this another sort of “safety in numbers?”
I was a counter from the time I was a kid. I counted everything – leaves on a branch that struck me as beautiful, steps from one one side of the street to the other, cracks in the sidewalk as I meandered my way to school, cars passing by during a specific period of time.
When I learned the multiplication tables I found much to admire; I could play with figures in my head, and challenge myself to work their rhythms and responses, visualizing decimal places and carryovers. I adored the order and magic of numbers, and I assure you – looking at my messy room and my sprawling stories, you wouldn’t have called me obsessive, or obsessive compulsive. But looking back, I realize I needed to make order out of chaos.
Why do people love to count?
I searched the internet to find an answer to what I thought was a straightforward question: Why do some people love to count?
I found nothing, though I tried my query several ways, including using psychology as a keyword. So I will offer my own interpretation, and it hardly seems far-fetched. We seek to make order out of chaos, to soothe ourselves with something controllable, to find solace in what is consistent, reliable, and even distracting.
Numbers provide a mechanism for doing just that – and we savor similar satisfactions in patterns and repetitions that come in many forms: in nature, in music, in imagery. In the echoes of our childhoods of discovery and calming; in a sequence of numbers like today’s date: 1/1/11.
Party party party (sleep sleep sleep?)
Last evening, the teenage party continued through the night. I welcomed the New Year watching some silliness on television, and content that I had no need to count anything (except heads in the household), I went to bed at 3:03.
What can I say? It may me smile to do so. I knew where my kids were (and their friends) – safe and sound, off the roads, and in my living room cheerfully talking and cutting up, and apparently only spilling a small amount of Sprite.
I grinned at the 3:03 on 01-01-11 and yielded to the necessity of zzzzzs. I had what I needed. I had what counted.
Weird New Year’s Celebrations
Meanwhile, if you were wondering (but I doubt it), I chuckled my way through the Bravo Wig Drop rather than the Snooki Ball Drop or my usual preference – Times Square. I raised a tiny glass of bubbly at midnight, and while trying to stay awake a few hours later, I came across this – weird New Year’s celebrations. What’s not to love about a little originality to welcome a new year?
- Did you enjoy your evening?
- How did you greet the new year?
- Do you like to count?
I had a thing for counting stairs for the longest time!
I watched the Bravo wig-drop too 🙂
We had a quiet New Year’s, which was what I wanted. Riley tried to stay up ’til midnight, I woke her up about 10 minutes before, but this a.m., she has no recollection of it!
I wonder how many kids actually count things as a means to self-soothe, or simply because it’s fun? Anyone have any data? 😉
So glad you had a nice quiet time last evening! (Sometimes, that’s just right.) Happy New Year!
Cool coincidence this.
I was thinking quite the same thing when in the kitchen i was putting dates on all the food containing tubs we used
And we’ll all be waiting for November 11 as well, right? 😉
I haven’t seen midnight on New Year’s Eve or any other night in a long, long time. I drank some bubbly that my husband and I got for our wedding almost nine years ago…yes we know how to party. It’s the next generation’s turn to live it up on NYE. Both girls went out with their friends and had a fantastic time welcoming in the New Year. Note: I would have totally stayed up to see the huge Peep drop. I love Peeps!
The Peep drop! ???
Hello cherie,
I still count things, all the time — to sleep, to soothe. I find counting, comforting.
How I hope this will be your year. You’ve worked for it, you’ve earned it and you have the talent and panache to pull it off. I know you do.
That being said. . . I wish for you a happy, fulfilling new year in all the ways you hope and dream.
Lots of love,
Tish
Thank you Tish. Je pense à toi souvent, et je suis contente d’avoir de tes nouvelles. I wish you a happy and healthy new year.
We watched the ball drop in Times Square, but we cheated. We live on the west coast, but we subscribe to east and west coast feeds of the major channels, so we watched it on an east coast channel which meant we could still get into bed to read just after 9:00. We are such exciting people!
Am I a counter? I had not thought about it but now that you bring it up, I am indeed a counter. Interesting.
What fun, to take in the new year on two coasts. (And happy to hear about more counters. Yes – as Tish said – soothing. Though I prefer to count shoes over sheep. :))