I first heard it many years ago, too. It shows up a lot and is, I think, good at making us think a bit more about why we do what we do. Thanks for reading, Bret.
That's lovely. A temporary beautiful habit that didn't become emptied out of meaning. The collage is artwork. Bless the ancestral voices in your heart and thanks for the reminder that all ritual is invented - and valid so long as it holds meaning.
Thanks, Caroline. I recognize that habits are, more or less, about efficiencies. They give our brains a break from having to make quite as many decisions everyday. I've accumulated many and, at this stage of life, that means new ones need to rank high on meaning scale. Keep what works but think hard about adding anything that doesn't build us up, right? Appreciate the comment.
Now you have me wondering about things I do out of habit, rather than reasons that have some kind of logical sense...
And wondering also why we so highly prize logical sense that we use a lack of it to dismiss or downplay an action that has value even though it might not have logical sense--such as a habit that provides a feeling of connection with those no longer with us. I assume that the list of people I miss is only going to grow longer, and I relish anything that helps me remember them or feel their presence in some way. I don't think it matters if there's no more actual reason in a things than there was in chopping off the ends of the pot roast, if it gives me some by-product that has value and does no harm.
Like Caroline, I really like that collage of your images; feels like rivers of time.
Logic might be overrated (lol). I see the imbalance you're highlighting here, Rita, and agree that the value of our human emotional and spiritual sides tends to be overlooked. As I mentioned to Caroline up above, I'm at a place and age in life of being called to reexamine much of what I've assumed to be "part of who I am," and to really consider if it all still gets to stay. If I thought the screenshot habit would continue to provide the ancestral connections it had when I started it, I'd keep doing it. But it seemed like I might be able to connect those threads just as well if not better without the device-focus.
Oh, and thanks for commenting on the collage. That's definitely one of the rewards from my little experiment. :)
Oh, I hope it didn't seem that I was saying I was thinking you should still be collecting screenshots! I am ALL for considering what to keep and what to toss and tossing freely! I think being this way is one of the nice benefits of being at the place and age of life we are now. (Balances out waking up with a stiff lower back, among other things.) I love the way your writing makes me think about things.
Yes to the pausing! I don't see myself ever letting go of that part. Nice to have spent some time really teasing apart what worked and what -- I don't want to say *didn't* -- maybe could be set aside without changing the overall heart impact. Thanks, Roe, as always.
'It felt as though my departed kin were waving at me from the far shore of a too-wide river.'
And that is my takeaway from your strangely endearing habit.
Apart from when I need to take note of time for a particular appointment, time means little to me. I don't wear a watch and tend to observe the light and the sky these days - oh, and my tummy if its rumbling, and whether I need some water.
But the Terrier is a Time Master. Time for a walk, time to be fed - but nothing is in numerical terms and is stripped down to elemental things.
Habits? Well yes, I'm very guilty. The need to eat something sweet when I pour a cup of tea. Every time! The need to stitch the minute the evening TV goes on. The habit of touching the doorframe every time I come back from the city to the cottage and saying 'Hello House.' I do the same with the townhouse. And of course the reverse, when I'm leaving - 'Goodbye House'.
And to say to Dad and Mum who are on that far-off shore of a too-wide river - 'I miss you and want you here on our side.' Is that a habit? No. But it could be...
My job keeps me anchored to my laptop most days, with that little digital time display in the top right corner. I think that's part of what set the stage for Ancestor Time to take hold. With our pets all gone, we're no longer bound to that schedule-driver for the first time in more than 30 years. Such a strange release of responsibility!
I love that you tell your houses hello. Talk about endearing! This missing our parents never disappears, does it? We are better for it, I think. Lovely to see your days this way, Prue. Thanks for sharing.
I enjoyed this, Elizabeth, and I laughed as your frequency increased. I know exactly what you mean though about things that seem symbolic or whimsical or magical "losing" that quality when they become "ordinary." I really love that you thought of people at these moments.... that's powerful.
Like your ravens? :) Not that they've lost their mystery for you yet. Naming things has a way of acting as a reminder in and of itself, doesn't it? That said, it truly felt like a gift to myself for at least a little while. So appreciate you joining me on the journey, Amy.
I have this thing where I have to follow each of the hyperlinks in your post, and read EACH of the articles Completely Before I reply to you. This is a very satisfying habit, and I learn so much.
"Do I know why [these habits] are a part of my life?" is such a great question. Word choice, beliefs, reading habits. I love the way you jump from your funny screen-shot obsession to these bigger, totally important life questions. Wow. And then that collage! Talk about zooming out to look at patterns!
11:11 is a special time Busy and I take note of - as it happens to be my birthday.
Too fun, Stewart! I'm delighted to know the links are part of your Chicken Scratch experience. As you've no doubt discovered, those selections typically involve no small amount of consideration, but I know it's hard to make time to take in everything. Thanks for letting me know about your connection to 11:11. Check your inbox! I've sent a little something your way. 😁
For me it’s long been the odometer reading in my car. I like when they all line up, but I love it when the numbers form a palindrome, same backward as forward. The very best one ever was when my odometer read 12,345 AND the trip odometer read 67.8. I swear I didn’t plan that! I’m known to drive around the neighbor hood several times to make the perfect palindrome appear when I finally land in my driveway. Working mostly from home and driving far less I don’t focus on the odometer as much but I do hate it when I get involved thinking about something stupid like , oh I don’t know, DRIVING? And I miss a great one by 2 miles. On the other hand, 11:11 is my favorite number and it’s become a touch point for me and my husband. When he’s at work he began texting me with a funny Gif at 11:11 every day. It makes me smile, and know that this one very alive person does think of me at that time every day.
Oh, odometer! How great is that!? (I'm going to force myself to not go there. Ha!) You share your alive-and-thriving 11:11 connection with many, I'm sure. One of my kids has begun sending her own 11:11 screenshots with me. That's always an interesting game, because she lives in Australia, so our times aren't at all aligned! Another commenter here relates to it in part because that's his birthday. So sweet to get that mid-morning smile break. That's a keeper habit for sure.
"Just one more. I promise." Made me laugh right out loud! A sweet surprise. Like eating grapes and the last one is sweet!
For a year, I saved Civil War clay marbles. Why? Perhaps the idea that even on battlefield encampments, young soldiers had a moment of amusements... At some point I had to say to myself ,"Enough!" I have since given the mason jar to a young high school history teacher to save or distribute as he sees fit.
So glad you saw the humor in that last little shot! It's been an exercise in self-discipline to not keep up the routine. I still pause when the numbers align, but I make a conscious choice to let it go.
Where are you gathering Civil War marbles?! That, at least, as historical significance, and your choice to give them to a history teacher was excellent!
Strange and wonderful, indeed -- both in equal measure. Loved this comment, Susan!
Oh gosh, wow, this post is gold dust to me, Elizabeth, THANK YOU. One of my most pervasive OCD compulsions is heavily numbers-related, and I've found your story of Ancestor Time both lovely and really helpful.
"At some point I noticed it didn’t exactly feel magical anymore. The reason for it had been displaced by the routine, and it seemed plausible that my whimsical, wonderful, experiment was tending toward pathological."
Habits really are habit-forming, aren't they?!
In a wonderful coincidence I nearly cut the corner off the huge hunk of the boneless shoulder joint which I'd been trying to wrestle into the slow cooker this morning! I made it fit eventually, but next time I'll lop that end RIGHT OFF! 🤣
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Substacks (🤔) strikes again. Loving the synchronicity, and that I'm not alone in my number-related compulsions. It truly delights me to know that you found value in it! Lop away, Rebecca! It's all for good reason, I'm sure.
Yikes! Now I'm aware of the numbers thing! As I was headed out to yard clean up yesterday, I noted the time was 3:33 and of course, I thought of you! I refrained from taking a photo but really did laugh out loud !
I love it when I encounter accounts of things that I, too, have been doing, and wondering if others did it too. What I learned as a child was that seeing angel numbers meant someone was thinking about you. Wondering who it could be has been a huge sign of where my heart, desires, longings and frustrations were placed, at different points of my life. Sometimes I think that this much self-awareness and the imp of meaningfulness are great, sometimes I think they are a curse.
Thanks, Luisa for reading and commenting. I think it was Jung who said, "There is no coming to consciousness without pain." Some of us (I'm there) can see meaning and messages everywhere, and making space for that is work. It also adds a component of ego to what probably has nothing to do with me. Sometimes, I have to make a point of NOT attaching my human metaphors to everything I see.
I first heard it many years ago, too. It shows up a lot and is, I think, good at making us think a bit more about why we do what we do. Thanks for reading, Bret.
That's lovely. A temporary beautiful habit that didn't become emptied out of meaning. The collage is artwork. Bless the ancestral voices in your heart and thanks for the reminder that all ritual is invented - and valid so long as it holds meaning.
Thanks, Caroline. I recognize that habits are, more or less, about efficiencies. They give our brains a break from having to make quite as many decisions everyday. I've accumulated many and, at this stage of life, that means new ones need to rank high on meaning scale. Keep what works but think hard about adding anything that doesn't build us up, right? Appreciate the comment.
Now you have me wondering about things I do out of habit, rather than reasons that have some kind of logical sense...
And wondering also why we so highly prize logical sense that we use a lack of it to dismiss or downplay an action that has value even though it might not have logical sense--such as a habit that provides a feeling of connection with those no longer with us. I assume that the list of people I miss is only going to grow longer, and I relish anything that helps me remember them or feel their presence in some way. I don't think it matters if there's no more actual reason in a things than there was in chopping off the ends of the pot roast, if it gives me some by-product that has value and does no harm.
Like Caroline, I really like that collage of your images; feels like rivers of time.
Logic might be overrated (lol). I see the imbalance you're highlighting here, Rita, and agree that the value of our human emotional and spiritual sides tends to be overlooked. As I mentioned to Caroline up above, I'm at a place and age in life of being called to reexamine much of what I've assumed to be "part of who I am," and to really consider if it all still gets to stay. If I thought the screenshot habit would continue to provide the ancestral connections it had when I started it, I'd keep doing it. But it seemed like I might be able to connect those threads just as well if not better without the device-focus.
Oh, and thanks for commenting on the collage. That's definitely one of the rewards from my little experiment. :)
Oh, I hope it didn't seem that I was saying I was thinking you should still be collecting screenshots! I am ALL for considering what to keep and what to toss and tossing freely! I think being this way is one of the nice benefits of being at the place and age of life we are now. (Balances out waking up with a stiff lower back, among other things.) I love the way your writing makes me think about things.
Appreciate that - and you!
It's very much a two-way street. 🙂
I never fail to pause when I see repeated digits on my phone, so I love that you made this journey!
Yes to the pausing! I don't see myself ever letting go of that part. Nice to have spent some time really teasing apart what worked and what -- I don't want to say *didn't* -- maybe could be set aside without changing the overall heart impact. Thanks, Roe, as always.
'It felt as though my departed kin were waving at me from the far shore of a too-wide river.'
And that is my takeaway from your strangely endearing habit.
Apart from when I need to take note of time for a particular appointment, time means little to me. I don't wear a watch and tend to observe the light and the sky these days - oh, and my tummy if its rumbling, and whether I need some water.
But the Terrier is a Time Master. Time for a walk, time to be fed - but nothing is in numerical terms and is stripped down to elemental things.
Habits? Well yes, I'm very guilty. The need to eat something sweet when I pour a cup of tea. Every time! The need to stitch the minute the evening TV goes on. The habit of touching the doorframe every time I come back from the city to the cottage and saying 'Hello House.' I do the same with the townhouse. And of course the reverse, when I'm leaving - 'Goodbye House'.
And to say to Dad and Mum who are on that far-off shore of a too-wide river - 'I miss you and want you here on our side.' Is that a habit? No. But it could be...
My job keeps me anchored to my laptop most days, with that little digital time display in the top right corner. I think that's part of what set the stage for Ancestor Time to take hold. With our pets all gone, we're no longer bound to that schedule-driver for the first time in more than 30 years. Such a strange release of responsibility!
I love that you tell your houses hello. Talk about endearing! This missing our parents never disappears, does it? We are better for it, I think. Lovely to see your days this way, Prue. Thanks for sharing.
I've written your quote in my journal...
🥰
I enjoyed this, Elizabeth, and I laughed as your frequency increased. I know exactly what you mean though about things that seem symbolic or whimsical or magical "losing" that quality when they become "ordinary." I really love that you thought of people at these moments.... that's powerful.
Like your ravens? :) Not that they've lost their mystery for you yet. Naming things has a way of acting as a reminder in and of itself, doesn't it? That said, it truly felt like a gift to myself for at least a little while. So appreciate you joining me on the journey, Amy.
I have this thing where I have to follow each of the hyperlinks in your post, and read EACH of the articles Completely Before I reply to you. This is a very satisfying habit, and I learn so much.
"Do I know why [these habits] are a part of my life?" is such a great question. Word choice, beliefs, reading habits. I love the way you jump from your funny screen-shot obsession to these bigger, totally important life questions. Wow. And then that collage! Talk about zooming out to look at patterns!
11:11 is a special time Busy and I take note of - as it happens to be my birthday.
Too fun, Stewart! I'm delighted to know the links are part of your Chicken Scratch experience. As you've no doubt discovered, those selections typically involve no small amount of consideration, but I know it's hard to make time to take in everything. Thanks for letting me know about your connection to 11:11. Check your inbox! I've sent a little something your way. 😁
For me it’s long been the odometer reading in my car. I like when they all line up, but I love it when the numbers form a palindrome, same backward as forward. The very best one ever was when my odometer read 12,345 AND the trip odometer read 67.8. I swear I didn’t plan that! I’m known to drive around the neighbor hood several times to make the perfect palindrome appear when I finally land in my driveway. Working mostly from home and driving far less I don’t focus on the odometer as much but I do hate it when I get involved thinking about something stupid like , oh I don’t know, DRIVING? And I miss a great one by 2 miles. On the other hand, 11:11 is my favorite number and it’s become a touch point for me and my husband. When he’s at work he began texting me with a funny Gif at 11:11 every day. It makes me smile, and know that this one very alive person does think of me at that time every day.
Oh, odometer! How great is that!? (I'm going to force myself to not go there. Ha!) You share your alive-and-thriving 11:11 connection with many, I'm sure. One of my kids has begun sending her own 11:11 screenshots with me. That's always an interesting game, because she lives in Australia, so our times aren't at all aligned! Another commenter here relates to it in part because that's his birthday. So sweet to get that mid-morning smile break. That's a keeper habit for sure.
"Just one more. I promise." Made me laugh right out loud! A sweet surprise. Like eating grapes and the last one is sweet!
For a year, I saved Civil War clay marbles. Why? Perhaps the idea that even on battlefield encampments, young soldiers had a moment of amusements... At some point I had to say to myself ,"Enough!" I have since given the mason jar to a young high school history teacher to save or distribute as he sees fit.
What strange and wonderful creatures we are!
So glad you saw the humor in that last little shot! It's been an exercise in self-discipline to not keep up the routine. I still pause when the numbers align, but I make a conscious choice to let it go.
Where are you gathering Civil War marbles?! That, at least, as historical significance, and your choice to give them to a history teacher was excellent!
Strange and wonderful, indeed -- both in equal measure. Loved this comment, Susan!
Oh gosh, wow, this post is gold dust to me, Elizabeth, THANK YOU. One of my most pervasive OCD compulsions is heavily numbers-related, and I've found your story of Ancestor Time both lovely and really helpful.
"At some point I noticed it didn’t exactly feel magical anymore. The reason for it had been displaced by the routine, and it seemed plausible that my whimsical, wonderful, experiment was tending toward pathological."
Habits really are habit-forming, aren't they?!
In a wonderful coincidence I nearly cut the corner off the huge hunk of the boneless shoulder joint which I'd been trying to wrestle into the slow cooker this morning! I made it fit eventually, but next time I'll lop that end RIGHT OFF! 🤣
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Substacks (🤔) strikes again. Loving the synchronicity, and that I'm not alone in my number-related compulsions. It truly delights me to know that you found value in it! Lop away, Rebecca! It's all for good reason, I'm sure.
😊😊😊
Yikes! Now I'm aware of the numbers thing! As I was headed out to yard clean up yesterday, I noted the time was 3:33 and of course, I thought of you! I refrained from taking a photo but really did laugh out loud !
Kind of a like an earworm for the eyes? LOL! Glad to know you're laughing and not cursing. 😅
I love it when I encounter accounts of things that I, too, have been doing, and wondering if others did it too. What I learned as a child was that seeing angel numbers meant someone was thinking about you. Wondering who it could be has been a huge sign of where my heart, desires, longings and frustrations were placed, at different points of my life. Sometimes I think that this much self-awareness and the imp of meaningfulness are great, sometimes I think they are a curse.
Thanks, Luisa for reading and commenting. I think it was Jung who said, "There is no coming to consciousness without pain." Some of us (I'm there) can see meaning and messages everywhere, and making space for that is work. It also adds a component of ego to what probably has nothing to do with me. Sometimes, I have to make a point of NOT attaching my human metaphors to everything I see.