L. R. B.

Disclaimer: I’m not suggesting, in the grand tradition of modern clickbait, that all this is one great trick that everyone must add to their routines right now for self-improvement. Furthermore: I can’t promise that I’m the first to think of using 11:11 as a semi-serious tool for introspection. I’m also not claiming to have invented prayer, wishing, mindfulness, or meditation. This reading ain’t Vaguely-Spiritual Christopher Columbus Hour.

It all started for me one 11:11 AM, in 11th-grade physics class, when someone pointed to the super-accurate satellite-controlled clock on the wall and told me to make a wish.

This was a tough time in my life–mundanely so, nothing really serious, but still, not much fun. I was a pimply, awkward 16-year-old, still finding my way at a time when 100% of my peers had already figured it all out perfectly (good one, Teen Bassford). My grades were slipping, at precisely the worst time for a college-bound student’s grades to slip. I had little time to see my friends, most of whom didn’t go to my high school, and I was still months away from my first serious relationship. It all sounds silly and petty now that I’m a little older, but at the time I must have needed something to believe in. So, even though I was way too smart to believe that it did anything, I started watching the clock right around the end of class, and making a wish on every 11:11.

Over time, this little ritual became a tool. I realized that I would usually make the same wish each time, for days or weeks on end. My wishes developed a few common traits: they were realistic, largely (but not entirely) within my capacity to control, and they addressed my chief worry at the time, or at least one of the big ones. For example, I wouldn’t wish for an A on a term paper that I knew would be tough; I would wish for myself to find the energy to do my best, for the teacher to grade it fairly, and for the end result to not screw me over too bad in the long term (e.g. during the college process). Or I’d wish for a crush to work out in the way that’s best for us in the long run, whether that meant we got together or not. Or I’d wish for some miscue of mine to go unnoticed, or at least not irrationally punished. So for me, this little once-or-twice-a-day ritual has been a way of squaring up with myself about what’s going on in my life, what I want to happen, and whether or not there’s anything I can do to get there.

“God provides the wind, but man must make the sails.” The Internet tells me that St. Augustine said this; I never trust uncited attributions. In any case, it’s a good one-liner, and it suggests to me a formula for 11:11 wishes: a pledge to myself that I will do everything in my power to sort out a given situation, coupled with a sort of prayer to a higher power that they’ll make it possible. This is me speaking as an agnostic; true believers’ mileage may vary.

You could also try using 11:11 as a 60-second Mirror of Erised, to work out your strongest desire of the day, realistic or not. I find it profoundly unappealing to even confront what my deepest and most irrational wishes are–residual Irish-Catholic guilt in action–but it certainly is an option for the more self-aware among us.

If you want to take this all to the next level, you can set up an anti-11:11, a Satanic foil: 11:13. If you make a wish on 11:13, you’ve jinxed it. In fact, you should avoid–as much as possible–looking at the clock while it’s set to 11:13. In our era, with digital appliances everywhere, this is very slightly harder than it seems. Essentially, it’s a self-imposed moment of silence, lasting at least 60 seconds (with clearance on either end). In that time, try to empty your head of all thought. I usually close my eyes, and sometimes fire up some relaxing music. Once it’s 11:14, you’re in the clear. The key is to look away from what you’re doing, if you can, while you can. Don’t try this while driving or operating heavy machinery.

By and large, I’ve rarely been disappointed with the outcomes of my wishes. Of course, there have been times where I got too greedy, and have gotten screwed by 11:11. One night, walking home from work after a 3-11 shift, I stopped for a slice of pizza, took a peek at the time, and wished from the bottom of my heart for my fellow Americans to do the right thing. It was November 8, 2016.