Monday, August 3, 2020

Diary of a nofap streak - Day 15: The thrill is gone

What do you do when the thrill wears of? Especially when you've committed to a daily journaling effort. Even if practically nobody will ever read this, I feel like I have an obligation to produce something mildly interesting each day.

You know what IS interesting? Since I dabble in writing, this is a problem I face quite often. I have a scene in my current narrative where a woman holds a wiccan/feminist/tantric course. It is important to establish her as a leader, and by the end of it, her patriarchal nemesis will break in and ruin the day. But what do I do to build this up? Sometimes, ideas come cheap. Sometimes they don't. There are a few techniques, but they only get you so far. You have to keep at it, even if it feels nothing goes right.

One way to deal with it is to go meta, break the fourth wall: for example, to talk about habits in general. A bit of a cop-out, but only a bit.

There is a dramaturgy to habits, a common way they unfold.

You start with firm dedication, great dreams and motivation. "I will prevail over the demon of smoking. I will practice my bass every day, and soon I will be a rock goddess."

For a week or so, you actually feel some progress.

Then it all peters off. Like in a love affair, the thrill is gone, and you want to move on. You drag on for a bit, and then...

Well, maybe you give up, actually move on to something else, or you drag yourself through that down. Life experience can help you with that. Friends can help. Accountability buddies. Habit trackers.  If it's a "negative" habit, like giving up alcohol or nofap, this might actually be a bit easier to get through - you don't have to drag your sorry ass up to do stuff, you just have to not-do anything. It can still be tough, with relief lurking around the corner, only a few minutes of rubbing it off.

Having a firm grasp of your imagination can help. When I wrote that last sentence, the urge came back. When I write my (rather sexually charged) narrative, it doesn't. So I think that it's a good idea to be very observative about the thoughts and images in my head. I don't feed my brain racy raunchy videos. I try and read a lot - it's on my daily habits list. Re-finding the advantage of reading over video-ing is good.

I think it is important to realize that it's not about instigating one change, and that's that. The motivation to change comes in waves, like everything else. The challenge is not to overcome the hollow - or dive through as it were - but to ride the flow and the ebb alike. There can be a realization that something unexpected might wait beyond the chasm, and holding out for a while will get you there, even if you don't see it yet. Or... or there is nothing, and then you have learned something valuable too.



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