Hal sits at his desk, six am Sunday morning. He is attempting to start a new habit. Now in his forties he realizes that there have been some missed opportunities in life and some things he could have done different. Realizing this he has been listening to different books about habits and "Expanding" the mind.
The running theme seems to be that small habits can change the direction of things, so why not give it a shot. The first thing he added to his morning was a small exercise routine. Getting out of bed around 5am, first to the bathroom, then checks his weight and then stretches and breaths preparing to do just a few squats and push ups.
One of the things that seemed to stick with him was one trainer mentioning that you shouldn't do enough to get sore. The argument was that going to the point of getting sore would make you stop. It was better to do five push-ups everyday than ten every five days.
So after a month of this routine Hal is now doing stretches, twenty squats, and twenty push-ups with no soreness and increasing the numbers every few days. With this starting to be a habit he likes, it's time to maybe add another.
This is why Hal is sitting at his desk staring at a blank word processor screen. He has had thoughts of writing stories but never really tried to put anything to "paper". So, why not try to make a habit of writing something, at least a paragraph, every morning while drinking his coffee.
This task is easier thought or said than done. Now sitting at his desk looking at his computer, his mind is a blank. Looking at the keyboard and the screen it just doesn't seem to be working. Then an odd thought occurred to him.
He has been doing his new morning routine without getting dressed. It just seemed to be an unnecessary step in the order of things, since he lives alone and does the few exercises in his room. Would writing at his desk naked put him in a different mind set? Would it free him up to just type anything that popped into his head?
What the heck, Hal got up and took off his shirt tossed it on a chair across the room. Then his jeans and his boxer briefs. It was a bit freeing standing in this part of his apartment with nothing but his wool socks on. Hal thought he should keep the socks, hardwood floors are cold in New England in the winter.
Never having been overly happy with his dad bod, especially since he is not a dad, being naked even in his own place was something new to him. It was another one of the things he was trying to do more often to build confidence and comfort with himself.
Now free of clothes that may have been in the way of creativity, Hal went back to his desk chair and his blank screen. The leather seat of his chair was warm on his bare ass since he was sitting in it shortly before, but when his shirtless back grazed the seat back he felt the cold surface that made him sit straight up. Pulling in a deep breath at the surprise he lowered himself back into the chair to get as comfortable as he could.
Hal thought, Ok now... write. Just type anything, whatever comes to your mind. As his fingers hovered there over the keys time seemed to pause. He sat looking wondering what to write, amazed at the pressure of a blank page.
