The power of three

Before Renee could say anything more, anything about Meredith, Jalal took off at a run, heading back home. Passing not another soul along the empty street, he cut across the bridge and wound through the lanes, every house looming dark and silent, every pounding step echoing from the vacant spaces, every heartbeat taking him down and down and down toward the shore.

One of the themes in my current work is the number three. There are three main characters. Three lives with three stories of love, loss, and redemption. The quote above illustrates my natural tendency to compose in repetition of three: street, bridge, lanes; every house, every step, every heartbeat; down, down, down. My brain does not let go at two or four; it’s satisfied at three.

Maybe, it comes to me from my Celtic ancestors with their copious use of triadic symbols, but likely I’m expressing archetype, a universal law. Consider:

• Body, soul, and spirit (echoed by: the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost)
• Maiden, mother, crone
• Primary, secondary, tertiary
• Past, present, future
• Morning, noon, and night
• Up, down, and all around
• Thought, word, and deed
• Animal, vegetable, and mineral

Expressions of three are … well … here, there and everywhere.