CHANGE

I changed my calendar yesterday.  It is a bulletin board that is marked off into rows of seven squares, each square with a paper number in its corner.  Changing the month meant completely rearranging the board.  I put every day of October into its place, rather as though I were creating the month instead of merely seeing it laid out before me.  It left me feeling much more like I had begun something new than if I had simply turned over a calendar page. 

It is very fortunate that the months change so often, if only because it gives us the illusion of change.  September thirtieth was very much like October first, but it was good to have something new.  The calendar has a new face.  It is one of those small things that changes nothing, and yet changes everything.  It’s very like getting a haircut.  You are still quite you, but you are also new in a way.  It’s refreshing.