It’s time.

I didn’t want to do it. My ego was bruised. My sense of right and wrong convinced I was right.

And yet…

It’s time. I am officially an advocate of the single space rule.

What’s the single space rule?

you ask. This is the use of a single space after punctuation at the end of a sentence. For anyone under the age of 30, this is a forgone conclusion. For artists, graphic designers, and journalists, this is a crusade they’ve long-since won.

For me, this comes as a begrudging reality of a part of modern typography and usage that I have been reluctantly rebelling against.

I learned to type with the two-space rule. I have been a punctuation rebel about the use of commas (we use them too sparingly) and advocate for many traditional matters (including the Oxford comma) while being a radical grammarian. I even wrote about this rejection three years ago in response to Farhad Manjoo’s popular piece for Slate.

Times change.

A few months after writing that defense of two-space punctuation, I began to switch my approach and never looked back. I didn’t draw attention to my single-space experience because I still reject the rigidity of modern grammarians. Most have long lost their interest in precise communication and are much more concerned with matters of grammar doctrine.

What has changed for me was that in this one area I was a complete hypocrite. Share on X

I support change, growth, transformation in spiritual and emotional health. I expect people to develop new theology through life-long Christian formation. I hope that the gospel can invite sacrifice and radical living. And my real, deep down reason for supporting the double-space is “I took typing in 7th grade.”

I changed.

My behavior changed before my mind changed. I was doing the single-space and believing myself a double-spacer. Until I realized that I didn’t remember the last time I regularly double-space.

The only choice I made was to entertain the notion that the single-space was better, necessary, possible. This made it easy to try it out. This led to using it regularly. And then it became habit.

It is long past due to acknowledge my change to myself and to my friends.

I am a single-space typer.

There are many ways to change, I think.

For some, the change has to be mental first. Jeff Goins had to accept that he was, in fact, a writer before he could accept the truth. For others, it is will, forcing themselves to change or to adopt new habits. And others use friends and communities to support them.

Whatever method you choose, it takes an action and acknowledgement. For me, the action was simple: I had to accept the possibility and hear it out. Then test it out and live it out.

And today I am accepting what has been true for a very long time. I like the single-space punctuation style and use it to communicate effectively. And I am thankful I have had the chance to learn why I should care.

Not care enough to get rid of the double spaces from all of that writing from before. I’m leaving them as a souvenir, an acknowledgement of a progression; a growth. Who I was and who I became. It’s not a big thing, but it is a thing.

I needed to change this part of me so that I could better reflect what is inside of me. And I do so happily.