If variety is indeed “the spice of life that gives it all its flavor” (William Cowper, The Task), why then, in most things most people do, does repetition rule?
We do our morning chores (brush our teeth, wash our face, dress, eat) in the same order each day, we drive to work over the same route, eat the same foods at the same restaurants, watch the same television shows, have sex in the same position, sleep on the same side of the bed, vacation at the same sites and do just about everything else we do the way we’ve done it a thousand times before.
Why do we wallow in repetition and the boredom and the “been there, done that, seen that, said that” malaise and lethargy it engenders, and choose to forfeit the myriad flavors that variety offers?
Perhaps the ironic answer is that choosing repetition, whether consciously or by default, saves us from further choices, from the perceived burden of the thinking that is entailed in making choices, and from the risk of making bad choices and suffering their consequences. In sum, many perceive repetition as an efficient and comfortable and safe way of living life, albeit without much flavor.
But there is the rub. One of the distinguishing characteristics of humans is our ability to choose. It is inherent in our nature and separates us from all other living things. Whether it is defining our own personality and character, selecting a career or loving mate for life, or choosing what to eat for breakfast, choice is the human way to live and robot-like mindless repetition is not.
To those who have opted for a repetitious, safe and familiar lifestyle but find it not to be as fulfilling, interesting, rewarding and challenging as they would like, I offer variety as the antidote and the words of John A. Shedd in Salt from My Attic, “A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”
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