I am a lover of lists. I may even go so far as to say I am lost without a list!
But it’s not the list itself, it’s the ticking that I take to. Ticking an item off a list produces a tiny surge of pleasure. And while running a business provides endless opportunities to compose and enumerate the day’s tasks, today I am going ‘off list’ to muse on the little mark alongside…✔️
To tick. From late 13th Century, as a verb ‘to touch, or pat’.
From mid 15th century, as a noun, a light touch or tap.
A light touch or tap.
The image of a tick is the symbol of the V extended longer on one side.
The tick as true or truth, or done. Satisfying, affirmative closure.
Also, to tick off, or to be ticked off, relating to annoyance and scolding.
Also, a tiny parasitic animal that burrows in the skin, waits, and sucks blood from below the surface.
And, echoic, the methodical progression of time. From a time when clocks did actually tick, tick, tick.
One theory is that the symbol of the tick originates from the Greek word Nike (Nikas) which means to win. The Greek letter N is written as a V. Another theory is that it comes from the Roman word Veritas, the truth, the V became the tick.
In languages other than English, different symbols are used- in Japan and South Korea a circle represents a yes. In Sweden, the tick symbol represents that which is ticked is wrong, and a capital R that it is true.
The tick, whether it be sound, or tap, or mark, or creature, seems to refer to something tiny and singular.
And yet ‘box ticking’ has come to mean something superficial, moving at speed, bureaucracy. A box ticked may imply a task where only lip service has been paid, and no attention given to the greater perspective of the situation. In this understanding of the term, we are ticking off boxes to get them out of the way, to close them, to get to some end point as fast as possible.
So how did humbly, or perhaps even joyfully ‘ticking a box’ take on this superficial, bureaucratic meaning?
How do we know when something is done? That it deserves the mark?
Some things may be obvious. We paid a bill, sent an email, or folded the washing.
Done has power. It’s a decision, even a small one. To mark the thing done, satisfies. It is a ‘win’.
Other things are more nebulous and require evaluation.
For example, finishing a creative process such as the design for one of our serving tools is not always clear cut.
And here to return to the understanding of ticking as a soft tap. If it is related to making a decision, a tap indicates that we are not seeking perfection but that the thing is enough, we have done enough here, for now, in these circumstances, at this time.
A tick is not an inscription, not a tattoo. A tick is not a ‘like’ on social media. A tick is a light tap, and a decision.
It can apply to relationships too. A request for company, for attention, can be completed, can be ticked in that sense. There may be no obvious sign that signals the conclusion of an encounter, but there is a sense of it being done. The time was spent, the exchange was had.
There is an enough. But it’s not proscribed, it’s not always obvious.
And the evaluation may slow us down.
Soft does not have to mean paying lip service. Soft, but not superficial.
Perhaps the tick, tick, tick, forward motion of time may also be understood as tapping forwards lightly, a beat, a rhythm and not a judgment.
On that meandering note, it is surely time for me to be getting back to business, and to today’s lovely list…
