New Year's Day And Other Blank Boards.

Mr. Greene was your typical math teacher, but, like all teachers, he had particular tendencies that made him distinct from others. I remember little about what he taught me about geometry, but remember he fastidiously erased the board each time he began a class or introduced a new concept. Unlike other teachers who erased enough of the board to write down their next point, Mr. Greene erased each and every mark on the board. Rubbing fiercely when a mark was stubborn, we waited patiently for him to have the board to his liking anticipating the impeccable color-coded equations to come.

I have often thought of Mr. Greene and his board when I begin another year or project. Too often, I erase only enough to make room for the new venture, when what I need to do is take the time to erase the entire board. Too often, the notes or writing from the past are distracting. Rather than focusing on the words being written, I am reading the words from past lessons.

Today is a day to erase the boards of our lives and prepare for a new year of lessons and explorations. Deliberately, we need to be like Mr. Greene and take the time to erase all that is past and start the year with a pristine surface. Clean it all . . . the surface of the board, the tray below, and buy new pens (go ahead and buy pens in many colors).

Take the time to erase all the distractions and debris of the past, then pause and look at the blank surface. What an exciting moment to look at a blank board. Pregnant with possibilities, and unencumbered by what has been, the invitation for a new beginning, a new chapter, a new life, is sitting before us.

Yes, it took effort to prepare it, but, in the end, it, like all new beginnings, is a gift. We can take the gift for granted and put it aside once the year begins, or we can accept with it a grateful heart and begin writing words that have never been written.

The choice is ours.