Habit makes time elastic. When you do the same thing for too long, it compresses time like a spring, ready to expand at the first sign of release. Don't get too invested in your habits, or your life will fly by and you will stop growing. Try new things occasionally, as children are always doing, harnessing their wonder in years that flex. Ocean Vuong says that on earth we're briefly gorgeous, which we can maximize by doing gorgeous things. Even if it's one thing you enjoy doing, there are different angles to approach it, new ways of perceiving it. Learn all you can about it; never get complacent. That's what will separate you from being a specialist to a genius.
Conversely, too many habits can muddle life by making everything feel rushed. You must do this, you must do that, there is never enough time to get it all done. If you are feeling this way, it is best to reduce your habits, or find new ones that better align with your path. Embrace stillness, the pauses between activities, thoughts, and sentences. Stillness is underrated in our culture. Much of what we understand and enjoy could be amplified if we would only stop and stare, collect our thoughts, appreciate the beauty, and reflect on our feelings rather than keep scrolling, searching for a new stimulus or inspiration. Stillness turns a good story into a great one, a noisy song into a fluid one, a neurotic mind into a calm one. Meditate. Make stillness a habit.
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