The Pause That Refreshes
It is one of the comic tragedies of the human condition in the 21st century that we enthusiastically embrace habits while vigorously eschewing disciplines. I came up with that platitude while walking in the woods this afternoon, and thought it might easily be expanded into a thought-provoking entry in this journal, and fulfill my obligations to the Holidailies people another day. But it's not much of an idea yet; I'd have to articulate the distinction between “habits” and “disciplines”, which seems tiresome (i.e., it would require disciplined thought and disciplined writing); and it's getting late and I'd rather get this over with in time to watch some television (Scrubs, which I've gotten into the habit of watching in the evening, though it is plainly a poor use of my time, and only intermittently rewarding in terms of entertainment value). I'm not sure I fully understand why driving to work invariably becomes a habit, but walking to work is, potentially at least, a discipline. I did feel more virtuous last week when circumstances forced me to walk to work, but I didn't start voluntarily walking to work once I got my car back on the road. (Parenthetically, let me observe that several co-workers of mine routinely drive to work, though they live within a half-mile of the place. I have seen X, for instance, walking her dog within twenty feet of the place, then take him home and drive back for work. Not to pass judgment. It just goes to show the persistent power of habit over our behavior.) Nor do I, upon awakening, exercise, study the Bible or the Tao Te Ching, catch up on my correspondence, or clean up the kitchen; instead I make a little coffee to wake me up and idle away an hour on the internet. I guess I'm just not the disciplined type, which is about as good a reason as I can think of for giving up. So, to hell with Holidailies! There'll be no entry today; maybe tomorrow.
