On Repetition
Posted on April 7, 2009
Filed Under Aphorisms | 4 Comments
It doesn’t quite make sense. Why is repetition so interesting? Variety delights even as it disperses, but the thrill of the familiar persists. It’s like rehearsing a play; an actor gives depth and freshness to a role only by reciting the same lines over and over again, day after day after day. In the same way, practicing the piano is intensely boring—until you practice long enough. Repeating things makes them easy, and inclines them to give up their secrets. Perhaps that’s it. Maybe we’re just not paying attention. But it still doesn’t quite make sense. Why is repetition so interesting?
A version of this abbreviated essay appears in the April issue of Ode
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If variety is the spice of life, repetition is the main course.
Repetition is not monotonous. Joy is not monotonous. In summer, the kids go swimming every day.
Repetition is the ceaseless rhythm of the universe.
The familiar is by far the most beautiful.
“Avoid fads.” “Avoid fats.” Repetition and Variation.
Playground zen: every time down the slide is the first time.
If you can say something again, but this time with meaning, perhaps then you won’t forget you said it before so easily without paying attention next time you say it.