ThePlagueYears: Habit forming

Every picture tells a story In thinking about street art in London, and the differences between London's scene and the European cities we know, I remembered I had this picture in my gallery. It speaks to the transgressive aspect of a lot of street art in Europe. When this photo was taken in 2010 in Seville, Spain, street art was probably already less frowned upon and policed than it had been. Still.

The picture was taken near the city centre, 100 metres or so from the Guadalquivir River. When I took it, I only noticed the painters in the driveway into the parking lot. I remember thinking, 'They've got a lot of balls doing this in broad daylight.'

What I didn't register until some years later when revisiting the picture was the guy on the bicycle half way up the stairs to the bridge, and the other guy standing at bridge level near the top of the frame on the right. I'm pretty sure they're both spotters, keeping watch for police or Guardia Civil.

Had the Seville civic authorities eased up on enforcing laws against street art? Quite possibly. There was certainly lots of it about the year we were there. Some of the pieces on the retaining walls by the river were a definite improvement on the otherwise drab riverside. Here are couple of examples.

When does a habit become an obsession?

The other day, Karen characterized my insistence on going out for walks every day, even in very cold weather, as "obsessive." It was like my penchant for straightening place settings at the dinner table, she said.

It's true that, to begin with, I did have to force myself to go out for walks in the cold. Once I'd done it a couple of times, though, I realized I was enjoying it. After that, I didn't have to force myself at all, I looked forward to it.

Still, Karen's comment got me thinking about the relationship between habit and obsession.

She's right that my insistence on straightening knives and forks is borderline OCD, and I have noticed that as I've gotten older I've become more prone to that kind of mildly obsessive behaviour. It's also true that sticking to habits can sometimes look similarly obsessive.

I'm very conscious of the need to form good habits and break bad ones, and from time to time I succeed in doing it. Once I've formed a good habit, I've noticed it's sometimes hard to not follow it.

Like flossing my teeth, which I forced myself to start doing 25 years ago when I finally got sick of recurring gum infections. Now, I sometimes think as I'm brushing my teeth in the morning, 'Well, I'm pressed for time this morning, so I'll skip flossing.' But the next thing I know, I'm in the middle of pulling the string through my teeth.

It's like you're on automatic pilot and can't regain manual control. Which is also the case with knife and fork straightening. I don't think, 'Oh, they're a little crooked, I'll straighten them.' I do it without thinking.

A new one is making the bed when I get up. One morning last week, I dragged myself out groggily after a bad night's sleep and thought, 'Can't be bothered today.' But before another coherent thought had entered my head, I found I was straightening bed clothes and plumping pillows.

So is that obsessive?

Maybe, but if it is, so what? Most people would say that flossing your teeth and making the bed when you get up are positive. Even if the habits become "obsessions" - and I'll admit it's sometimes a fine line between the two things- aren't they still mostly positive? I'd say so.

In fact, I'd say to be a true obsession, a habit would have to have some negative impact. Going out for walks in sub-zero temperatures - as long as you're properly dressed - doesn't have any negative impact I can see.

Went for a walk as usual this afternoon, with camera. It was snowing and damp. It felt colder at -3C than it had the day before when it was -7C and sunny. A mixed bag of photos from a circuit that took me over to Victoria Park, through the park, down Wellington St. to the CPR tracks and across Pall Mall to St. George and so home.