special times

After what had begun to feel like an unending series of grey days, the sky is a wonderful blue and the sun is shining today. I came downstairs to a bouquet of flowers and a hug from my wife: It was my birthday. In Rome, Catholic cardinals eddy and swirl in anticipation of picking a new pope. The stock market has exceeded the levels it reached prior to the crash of 2008 but no one is talking about the increased prices of gas, bread, milk ... the things that would make now/then comparisons credible. The front page of the newspaper reminds readers to set their clocks an hour ahead tonight ... it's the beginning of daylight savings time.

Pick your interest and it seems that the desire to make things 'special' is pretty forceful. Special, new, fresh, note-worthy. A special event, a special person, a special delight or horror, a special specialness.

An Internet dictionary defines the adjective "special" as:

-- different from and usually better than what is normal or ordinary

-- more than usual

-- very important to you

-- relating to one particular person, group, or area

-- created for a particular person, purpose, or situation

It would be arrogant and churlish to suggest that the force of "special" did not exist or that it were somehow less appropriate than some other, more elevated point of view... "things are what they are" blah, blah, blah. "Special" is kind of kool and I think it is better to admit it than to try to outflank it. "Special," in its own way, is pretty "ordinary" or "normal."

Like "laughter" or "love," what is "special" does not open itself to the solemnities of analysis ... it may provide a power-point presentation for a philosopher or psychologist or a helpless spiritual instructor, but whatever the intellectual or emotional entry point ... well, how does that square up with with an actual laugh, a surge of love, or a sense of something special?

If everything is special, nothing is special.
If nothing is special, then everything is special.

Like an oscilloscope, what is special rises and falls, is tasty or painful, comes and goes. I see no reason not to enjoy the ride.

But I also see no reason not to keep an eye on these comings and goings ... not the parsing and dissecting so much, but the real McCoy.