Well *sigh*

It feels like this summer has been fraught with more than its share of obstacles which make for a tidy excuse for why I haven't been blogging. In all honesty, the various digital issues have made it difficult. There have been several days when it has been impossible or at least extremely difficult to upload a post. However, most of the days I missed, I could have written a post, I just didn't.

The reason I bring it up is that it makes me think about the nature of habit. I like writing the blog, which is why I do it, so why is it hard to get posts up right now. I don't know, but I think it has to do with habit. Usually, I write the post either right after I get up in the morning or after we eat dinner. I do it every day and it really isn't a problem to sit down and get it done. After a while, that's just what I do at those times and I don't really have to think about doing it, I just do it. So what happened? The difficulties broke my momentum and because they kept happening, and I kept having trouble getting it back together, I lost my habit.

My dentist tells me that it takes 30 repetitions to make anything a habit. She usually tells me this in terms of flossing (I hate flossing), but the idea is sound. Do anything, at regular intervals, 30 times and it becomes an impulse. Its actually something I've observed, but I've always thought about it in terms of momentum. The resistance I feel taking on a task usually has to do with the logistics around the task, the whens, wheres, and hows. Once those are set in place, the task becomes easier. After a few days of that, it becomes something I miss if I don't perform the task.

So here I go, revving up the momentum machine.