November 2022

Boy, howdy; do I have a thing or two to say about loops. I try to think of them as “routines,” but… Like a fussy housecat, I rely on predictability. My touchstones of reliability help keep me grounded on a more-or-less even footing as I loop through my established routines. When I wake up, I know exactly what I need to do because it’s the same thing I do every morning.

But, is this healthy? Is this useful? If I were to ask Bill Murray as he’s waking up to the nine-thousandth iteration of Groundhog Day, he would probably answer with some profanity-laced version of NO. Likewise Brad Pitt or Ed Norton in between bouts of Fight Club. And if asked to comment on the advantages of routine, I imagine Crispin Glover’s Bartleby would (un/ironically) offer his pat response of, “I would prefer not to.”

Perhaps I should turn to those who relive one moment over and over to better understand varying perspectives. I could again turn to Brad to get his unintelligible take on the many facets of Snatch, or ask the faceless reporter whether adding all the stories together equals a consensus re: the last word from Citizen Kane. I’d be particularly interested in what Daniel Craig might offer when given carte [Benoit] blanche to interrogate a moment from all conceivable angles. (Who else is excited to look through the Glass Onion?) This level of analysis certainly helps when examining a specific event, but can it be used to inform the everyday routine? If I didn’t know better I’d ask Kristen Bell for her “Good Place” take. (Spoiler alert: I do know better.)

But by eliminating the need to make choices every day—what to wear (black dress), what to eat (eggs), when to Wordle (with coffee)—it helps me feel like my brain has more space, and that I can be bold with my thoughts because I haven’t used all my energy considering small stuff. It’s true that I might wake up one day and declare, mid-loop, “This is the bad place.” But until then, I’d prefer not to.