For Each Mood, a Habit

This week's chapter is called "A Knife in the Dark."  The hobbits, led by Strider, leave Bree to make for Rivendell.  During the previous night the Black Riders have attacked the Prancing Pony - Strider wisely had the hobbits sleep in a different room than the one they booked.  We also learn that Crickhollow has been attacked - saved by Fatty Bolger's planning and the Brandybuck's resourcefulness.  Even as our heroes move east, the Creative Wizard tells us what they leave behind.  When you leave home, no matter the reason, it is plainly irresponsible to stop caring about it.

As they journey east, the hobbits and Strider try to strike a balance - they must remain hidden from the Black Riders, but they don't want to remain too hidden, because they hope to find Gandalf, whom they believe is also on the road looking for them.  Eventually, they end up at Weathertop, and lone peak among the grasslands, which provides a view of all the surrounding area.  However, this also makes it an obvious location.  The Black Riders ambush them on the summit, and Frodo is stabbed before they are beaten back.

The journey from Bree to Weathertop takes about a week.  I think it is safe to say very few of us have gone on a week-long hike.  If you haven't, it can be hard to imagine.  If you have, I presume you did so on a well marked path and with an emergency plan if something went wrong.  The hobbits, of course, have much fewer comforts.  Of this situation, Sam says "Apples for walking, and a pipe for sitting."  These are the things he has to look forward to.

An apple for walking.  This makes sense - apples are easy to fit in your hand and they remain firm as you eat them (unlike a pear or a plum).  You can eat it as quickly or as slowly as you want.  You can slip it into a pocket if you need your hands for something else.  They are easy to brush off if they get dirty.  Many have a slightly tart taste to them, which can be a good pick-me-up during the dull hours of walking

A pipe for sitting.  Smoking has a contemplative aspect to it.  You need to focus on your breathing.  While walking one's mind is always at work.  You need to be on the look out for changes in terrain, for dangerous sounds, for changes in weather, and so on.  When sitting, you should give your mind a break.  Smoking allows one's mind to slow down and relax.

Many of the activities we enjoy doing we only enjoy in the right situations.  Eating Buffalo wings is great with friends, but stressful on a first date.  Cereal is nice in the morning, unless you try to eat it in your car.  The smokers that I know like to go outside with others when they smoke - going outside alone feels like timeout.

We can even take this beyond consumables.  When driving, I can listen to podcasts or music.  But, when out for a walk, I only listen to podcasts.  I find the music begins to feel repetitive and I want to change it (which takes away from my walk).  However I think driving, itself, is repetitive so it isn't an issue when my music begins to feel repetitive in the car.

For the past few months I've been working two part time jobs - mostly in the afternoons.  This means I don't have to go to work until about 11, so I have time in the morning.  But for what?  I have found it feels strange to be reading or playing video games in the morning.  So I try to focus on chores so that when I get home in the late evening, they are already done.  Plus, it feels like a good use of the morning.  But I don't have enough chores to keep me occupied.  So instead I've been trying to make myself do the things I do in the evening.  I'm getting more used to it, but it still feels strange.  I still feel as if I am doing these things at the 'wrong' time.

Humans like to categorize things - it helps us make sense of a large world.  But categories are also boundaries - when we try to change categorizations it feels weird.  You can eat pancakes for supper, but you better call it "breakfast for dinner," otherwise it's going to feel weird.  But it isn't really.  It's just a long-standing norm.

I wonder what would happen if we ignored these norms altogether.  Eat pancakes for lunch, and call it lunch.  Wake up, hang out before work, and after work rush home to go to bed.  Have a cup of tea after work instead of alcohol.  I am curious if we would feel freer, because we are not being constrained by tradition, or if we would feel lost, because we are abandoning our cultural guideposts.

Most of the habits we have we developed by accident.  There isn't much reason for them, per se, other than "they work."  Well, they may not work, but they function in ways we are familiar with.  Neediness to the point of pushing away friends and significant others isn't good, but if it happens to you enough times you will know to expect it and know how to respond to it (although breaking habits such as this one is better).  But we can also develop, or improve, our habits on purpose.

In writing this guide, I have tried to follow a general schedule.   I read the text on Sunday, jot down some ideas Monday or Tuesday, write Thursday and Friday, and use Saturday for edits before my elf-imposed noon deadline.  Weeks when I have not kept to this schedule have been harder for me than other weeks.  This schedule works - I want to develop it as a habit.  That's going to take some time, but it can be done.

I explained above why "Apples for walking, and a pipe for sitting," is a sensible view to take.  However, we don't know if Sam knows this.  Is this a saying in the Shire he is now going to test to it's extremes?  Or did it just enter his head and feel 'right'?  It's hard to say.

I've written before about how habits can be destructive.  Obviously, in that case, I meant bad habits.  But we can work to find good habits.  To quote that post, "Notice what gives you joy in the world and notice when it doesn't give you that joy anymore.  When that happens, react as quickly as you can. "  The emphasis is new.  Sometimes we will need more than an apple for walking.  Sometimes the old apples won't fulfill us.  Habits are something that should provide comfort, not entrap us.  When good habits become bad habits we should drop them.  Otherwise, we are sacrificing our own agency in the name of consistency.

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