"Breaking Bad" on Habits

I saw this comic and was reminded of something Steven Pressfield wrote in The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles --

"Writing is not hard. Sitting down to write is hard."

It's not that pursuing our creative outlets is difficult. In fact, once we get going, the creativity just sort of "takes over" and momentum can build very quickly (e.g., last week I filled up the back of a church bulletin with notes for an upcoming blog).

No, once the snowball starts rolling, it's pretty hard to stop it.

What's difficult is unplugging from out busyness and setting the snowball in motion.

To This Day

A powerful poem about the internal wounds & heartaches that we deal with -- frequently at the hands of others. Highly recommended.

The Ticking Clock

It took a second class period sitting in the room to hear the stealthy ticking of the clock. (Perhaps it was because first period doesn’t test very well -- some of them seem skittish about silence.)

But during second period, for the first time pretty much all year, I noticed its steady, rhythmic breathing (perhaps that’s redundant).

It wasn’t until fourth period that it became incessant -- perceptually salient now that it has entered my awareness, a “face” from which I am unable to turn (for it enters my ears at all angles).

It “watches” over me like a silent sentinel, its hands “pointing” the ways to go for the students (if only they were paying attention to it).

I wonder if that sound will ever truly get out of my head, now that I have become aware of it -- similar to how an idea never truly leaves you, once your mind has processed it...

“The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson