2-22-2020

When I accidentally see a string of repeated numbers it serves as my bell of mindfulness. If I happen to glance at the clock and it’s all 1s or 2s, I pause in what I’m doing to focus on my breath and pay attention to everything around me for the next minute.  It might use numbers but it’s not math, it’s beauty, at their core just different languages for the same essence, pointing to relations and not things.  Recently, an expert on the radio talked about higher mathematics in a way that sounded like religion. The tone of his voice as he described his practice, felt reverential.  My use of numbers is ritual, posting on the 22^nd of each month, both for the deadline and because that’s the number I find most beautiful.

Formulas are ciphers for relations between things. A matrix that remains constant. Things come and go but the structure of dependencies, the meaning of the placement on the armature is there for the coming and going to flow within. Artists understand ratios as proportions, structure at a glance. It may be that we see beauty in alignment as well as symmetry. Whereas symmetry seems stable, alignment of a single number feels fleeting, counts on and changes to the next. Some arrangements are enough to see go by briefly. A palindrome makes me smile, is enough in itself to have noticed, like a gymnast doing a series of flips in seconds. The attraction is visual and it stays with you. It’s not too different from a perfect shot in tennis. Perfection doesn’t last long so it’s good to pay attention and not miss it.

Moments of minor magic are spiritual practice, a choice to deepen awareness and tune to connections in the world. These are aesthetic choices, not burdened with esoteric meaning.

An alignment is an opportunity to appreciate the ephemeral glimpse of a smile from happenstance.

I recommend meditation because it has given me the power to stop and let the moment spread until the numbers change. It’s an interval to drop the wall of my own thoughts and let the surroundings absorb me into the picture. An unexpected prompt is available as a line or symmetry of numbers throughout the day. Or pick any favorite number and let the unexpected glance at it help remind you to go still. A minute is not long, but it is longer than you think.

Each time offers the random occasion to tune present centered awareness. Anything can be interesting if you’re paying attention.