Drum roll, please. This is my one hundredth blog post.
I feel some duty to mark the occasion in a fitting way. But how? Now it feels like pressure to make this post extra interesting. Yikes.
I put off writing this piece for a few days so that I could post it on the first of October, the tenth month, as ten and one hundred share a special connection. Maybe I should have waited until the tenth day of the tenth month, because 10 x 10 = 100. But I can’t wait that long. I have a huge backlog of pieces to write and post.
In lieu of changing your life with this blog post Number One Hundred, I’ll just reminisce for a minute about these hundred posts. Nearly three years ago I started this blog with the goal of having a place to express myself. If I was the only one who read it, okay. If others found it amusing, great. I wasn’t seeking a following of thousands, just the freedom to write or post whatever I wanted. Maybe that is why a blog is so great: in life there are so many compromises, but with your own blog there are so many freedoms.
Why is one hundred (of anything) so significant? Since we were young children we have been aware that numbers have meaning and certain ones seem extra worthy of celebration. My great aunt Kay turned one hundred and one two months ago (and is still as sharp as a pin). Reaching her hundredth birthday was such an amazing accomplishment because it so rare. But reaching ninety-nine is rare, too. Why does our society like things in batches of one hundred? It comes up in our daily lives, with the dollar bill representing one hundred pennies. It also comes up in more unusual circumstances, like the celebration of a centennial. We use it in measurement: 100% is the top. There are acclaimed literary works and famous songs which use one hundred in their titles or lyrics. We celebrate kids’ one hundred days of school. We analyze the presidents first one hundred days in office. One hundred: it’s everywhere!
I went to Google to shed some light on why one hundred is so omnipresent, so much a part of our daily lives as well as a measurement for our goals. Not being into football, I didn’t realize that there are one hundred yards in an American football field (not including the end zone). I learned that one hundred is the sum of the first nine prime numbers (my dad, the mathematician, will love this reference!).
I guess I’ll sign off now. I have at least a hundred things to do before bed: a hundred things to pick up off the floor, hundreds of breaths to take and hundreds of snacks to make. Plus, there are at least another hundred things I need to blog about, so keep it here for the next batch!
No comments:
Post a Comment