Rule of 3

Having lived for more than half a century in the world of music, I am very familiar with the triad and the crucial role it plays in musical language. However, I've just been finding out about the importance of the triad in writing, and realizing its significance in the construction of a book, a story, or even a short paragraph.

I have always favoured the number 3 and thought it 'lucky' for no real reason - it has a certain symmetry and friendliness I suppose and also plays a large part in my birth date – 13! From an early age, perhaps intuitively or through weekly contact with hymns and psalms, I was drawn towards it, and started giving presents in 3's – for instance, the very first Christmas gifts I can remember proudly presenting to my parents – were 3 angels for Mummy and 3 elephants for Daddy – made out of good old clay in the pottery hut at school. They kindly held onto them for years! My parents were incidentally also married on the third of a month.

And then, when I married and we had a family – guess what – 3 lovely daughters! Of course, it followed that any gifts to them through the years would be in 3's – sometimes identical for each, and sometimes within a genre, steered by their respective ages.

I was always on the 'look out' for 3 of a kind and discovered that 3 was a popular number for various collectables. My own mini collections have a few examples – 3 smooth shells from the beach at Skegness, carefully wrapped and transported each time we move house, and 3 beautifully elegant tall wooden vases – far too fragile to be used for flowers – in attractive 'sunset' colour shading – pinks, oranges and reds all blending in a wash together. These were a present from my husband – hand made and purchased in an art gallery/bookshop when we lived in Frinton-on-Sea.

I attach photos of both shells and vases, and 3 pretty little glasses from one of my cabinets and used very occasionally for a small pre-lunch sherry!

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