Anyone who’s ever tried to give up eating meat, quit smoking, or start running every morning knows how powerful habits can be. They are more than just simple behaviors, and they form an essential part of who we are.

I’ve often heard that we are the sum of all of our actions, and if this is true, then the ones we repeat the most become our identity. That’s how you go from alcohol-drinker to alcoholic, or from young Padawan to Jedi.

Habits are patterns of behaviour that become worn into our brains. Someone who wakes up, takes a cold shower…

Can I count on you to remind me,
Of all the beautiful things,
When the lights go out?
Sitting in a dark room,
I still tint my canvas gold and green.

I imagine a world where compassion,
Is the rule and not the exception.

When you forget,
That my happiness is yours,
And yours is mine…

Will you keep stepping on the gas,
When it’s clear, we are cliff-bound?

Will you keep flying against the glass window,
Chasing broken ideals…

Will you refuse to change direction,
Even as your vision gets hazy,
And your wings start to waver?

When will…

A few days ago, after eight months of slowly growing my reader base on Medium, I deleted my account. No, it was not some kind of exercise in detachment. It was purely accidental. The result of a series of unfortunate events, as Lemony Snicket would say.

After making the fatal mistake, a few interesting things happened:

1. Blank-faced denial: When you’ve just committed a fatal mistake, and you haven’t fully absorbed the consequences of it. So, instead of reacting immediately, you spend a good five minutes staring at the wall. Pale-faced and empty-eyed.
2. Anxious-ridden glimmer of hope: The immensity of what…