Busting your cycle is where you take one aspect of your life that’s more or less constant and you purposely bust it. By temporarily breaking a routine, you can often experience the world in a very different way. If you bust the right cycle, this shift in perspective can often lead to elation and a sense of possibility.
Ze Frank busted some cycles: by going to the dentist (cycle: not having people fuck with his mouth); by going for walks at 5 AM (cycle: worrying about sleep), by applying peanut butter and jelly directly onto his face (cycle: sandwich-making).
I’ve busted a couple of cycles lately. I read science fiction, Sam Delaney Nova, Babel-17, Einstein Intersection, instead of your meathook information science. Pacific Standard Time instead of Eastern. Walked instead of bussed. Braindumped into index card instead of Hiveminder. Multnomah instead of Washtenaw. Rain instead of snow. No frost but up on the mountains.
And next —
Murph | 31-Dec-06 at 6:40 pm | Permalink
….Snow?
Don’t know what cycle you’re busting there, but it’s certainly not the one Michigan’s in right now.
Sigh.
Brian | 31-Dec-06 at 9:20 pm | Permalink
Very true — you can tell I wrote this en route. Today was totally a pacific northwest kind of day around here, except a few degrees too cold.
Murph | 01-Jan-07 at 12:57 pm | Permalink
Meanwhile, I hear Seattle’s had plenty of snow in the past month.
Brian | 18-Mar-07 at 3:06 pm | Permalink
theshow has now ended. “Bust that cycle” is an idea that started off great and gets better with time, like a good Super Nintendo cartridge.