Saturday, August 11, 2007

11:11

the time seems to find me at the most difficult times. i see it on bank clocks, in the car, on my computer. it always startles me when i see it.

the first time it registered on me i was at a funeral, a tragic unexpected death, maybe 24 or so years ago. i stood behind the widow graveside. i looked at her hands on her lap. she wore a digital watch, "11:11 AM." i wasn't even wondering the time. i just saw it there. the picture is still with me.

everytime i see 11:11 i quickly try to change whatever i am doing. it isn't as conscious as those words suggest. sometimes me hand jerks. if seated, i find myself standing to leave the room. i cannot co-exist with that time. i just don't know why it has such a profound impact on me.

lately, perhaps the last two months, i have seen that time in countless number. it's been unsettling.

2 comments:

  1. I get freaked out by these kinds of things, too...have you seen The Number 23? It's all about that stuff...

    And every time I get freaked out, I wonder why I don't think of every uncanny coincidence as a small miracle.

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  2. i wrote that after midnight recently. the next morning i was baking bread. when i had everything ready and set the timer, i looked at the clock above the stove to estimate when my bread would be finished. the clock read 11:11. my heart just stopped. i felt slapped.

    i don't believe in coincidences; to me, there are just unknown, presently unperceived connections.

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