January 9

"That's only human," you say when someone has forgotten an appointment or got too loud in the heat of the moment. The word brings relief. It explains a mistake by the nature of the one who made it, and so takes away some of its weight.

When something goes well, you reach for this word less often. If you follow a thought to its end even though it becomes uncomfortable, or listen to someone until you understand what they actually mean, you are more likely to call that clever or kind. As if the human were above all the territory where failure is permitted.

And yet in such moments there is often a joy that is different from success. It doesn't depend on whether anyone says thank you or whether things turn out well. It feels more as if you had used something that was already in you and had long lain unused.

Still, you don't want to give up the relief. You need it for the many days when the other thing doesn't work out for you.

At the next forgotten appointment you say it again. And it's true, after all.