What we watch on loop, the songs we keep on repeat in our playlists, our go to books and passages to re read, tell a lot about us. The best way to tell about a person isn't based on the places he has been, but the home he returns to. Our comforts and the refuge we seek tell a lot about our fears and who we truly are. But we would rather have people judge us based on the taste we want to have, rather than our guilty pleasures. The one song that is so cool that hardly anyone has heard of, from a genre that few have heard of, or from the soundtrack of an art film; that festival release, limited run art film that is praised by bloggers everywhere and which we forced ourselves to sit through. We want people to believe these are the things that define us, that influence us to our very core. But they are more influenza than influences. They come and go but we keep retreating to our guilty pleasures, our happy place.
A big part of it is judgement. People have always judged others. Today it is much easier and there are more aspects of one's life made public for judgement. So we become our own PR reps and image consultants. We try to mold an image of ours, like vain people showing off that exact same profile and expression the moment a camera enters the vicinity. A selfie pout of preferences, if you will. The internet bio description is one big wide angle lens with Carl Zeiss optics and intelligent flash whatever. But it can never define who we are.
Habits are formed by repetitive actions that ingrain themselves into our personality. That habit is born out of repetition. Our comfort food for the soul, on incessant loop, repeating, shapes us for better or for worse. The ideal life is probably a good mix of healthy habits and new experiences. Some habits are healthy, some are not. Some experiences are pleasant, some unnerving. The right experiences can convert into healthy habits. So it is always good to try out new stuff. Go check out that foreign film, even with subtitles. Go read that genre of fiction that you always turned your nose on. Go listen to instrumental classic. And those who scoff at repetition? They probably do it because they hate missing out on new things while re-watching and re-reading. But repetition has its own advantage. It frees up a portion of the mind to think and ponder in ways that we don't when we are absorbing new stuff or when we are completely idle. It is like muscle memory. Like putting your brain on autopilot so you can do other things. Like any autopilot, best be the only one on the road when you do it.
A big part of it is judgement. People have always judged others. Today it is much easier and there are more aspects of one's life made public for judgement. So we become our own PR reps and image consultants. We try to mold an image of ours, like vain people showing off that exact same profile and expression the moment a camera enters the vicinity. A selfie pout of preferences, if you will. The internet bio description is one big wide angle lens with Carl Zeiss optics and intelligent flash whatever. But it can never define who we are.
Habits are formed by repetitive actions that ingrain themselves into our personality. That habit is born out of repetition. Our comfort food for the soul, on incessant loop, repeating, shapes us for better or for worse. The ideal life is probably a good mix of healthy habits and new experiences. Some habits are healthy, some are not. Some experiences are pleasant, some unnerving. The right experiences can convert into healthy habits. So it is always good to try out new stuff. Go check out that foreign film, even with subtitles. Go read that genre of fiction that you always turned your nose on. Go listen to instrumental classic. And those who scoff at repetition? They probably do it because they hate missing out on new things while re-watching and re-reading. But repetition has its own advantage. It frees up a portion of the mind to think and ponder in ways that we don't when we are absorbing new stuff or when we are completely idle. It is like muscle memory. Like putting your brain on autopilot so you can do other things. Like any autopilot, best be the only one on the road when you do it.
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