A Blank Sheet of Paper

“….the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” Genesis 1:2

For four years now my Thursdays have begun by staring at a blank piece of paper, or blank white set of computer pixels that make the screen appear as a blank sheet of paper. This Absurdity began that way.

Whether a computer screen or a sheet of paper, empty is always its beginning. There’s just something about a blank slate that craves input. It calls, “Put something on me ~ words, numbers, drawings ~ or fold me into the shape of an airplane and sail me. Do something with me, now!”

Imagine being a blank sheet of paper. How would you feel if your life went unused, just wadded up and pitched at trash cans? Or run through a shredder to make confetti for important parades or other such ephemera posing as momentous events. No, a blank sheet has infinite possibilities.

Everything starts out blank. You did, too ~ some may still be! … and so did this world. Think of what untold number of possibilities existed at the Creation ~ or The Big Bang, whichever you may choose. Imagine what could come from a totally blank world page. Now look at it. Think of each person beginning as a blank sheet of paper ~ then try to comprehend it all. Notice how finite your mind is!

All pages begin equal, but some more equal than others. Some pages become important like The Bible, The Constitution, or The Gettysburg Address. Some amount to absolutely nothing. Some would be downright frightening ~ like fodder crammed into The New York Times.

I prefer blank computer screens. It eliminates the eraser and wipes the slate clean with no consequence. Ink on paper is better than pencil lead. Imagine a fancy invitation scribbled in pencil. Horrors! The poor pencil is becoming a relic of another era. It has devolved to a lowly status of “uncertainty” ~ like, “let’s pencil in the appointment instead of ‘ink it in.’”

Blank pages have other possibilities. Suppose you have trashed me with some malicious gossip ~ why, I can write you several scathing replies, take out my anger and frustrations on paper and then trash you in return as I fling you into the garbage can ~ or shredder.

I particularly like blank bank deposit tickets. Sometimes when I’m bored I take blank ones and write insanely huge amounts on them and pretend I’m rich. I envision myself presenting it to a bank teller, especially one showing the deposit of $10 billion dollars to my account. Imagine their shock.

And that brings up another subject. Bank accounts. They can begin small with very little written on the deposit ticket, like $10.00. Yet, a bank account has the capacity to enlarge itself to infinity. It can’t be filled to capacity.

All of which brings me to the ultimate use of paper ~ to print cash currency. This paper is highly decorative and has the effect of creating more emotional fervor than all the paper in the world. Yet the irony of it is that while it starts out as a blank page, its value is based on nothing but a fiat faith ~ a huge blank page.

Many of us may be writing more checks (also blank) than deposit tickets these days. But better days are coming if you can grab that blank page of faith and write something on it. Perhaps it is nothing more than a short note to a friend, a card to a child or a check to a charity. It will make your paper very happy, and also the recipient.

Remember, a blank sheet of paper is a terrible thing to waste.


Bud Hearn
April 2, 2009