Be Content With What You Have
I haven't quite nailed down the cause, but from time to time I become very obsessed with my writing workflow.
Instead of actually writing, I choose to obsessively tinker with the programs I use to write.
Something causes some hiccup, or I see some shiny new thing, and I have to exhaust every option to see if I can save a millisecond's worth of typing strokes.
I'm constantly searching for the perfect workflow or text editor instead of just writing.
It's kinda exhausting.
Most recently, as you may have seen, I got the bug for fantasy consoles. I wondered if writing on them could somehow keep me more focused on writing.
Lacking options, I quickly abandoned the fantasy console idea and instead decided to peek into the Emacs wormhole.
That peek led me to a roughly two days worth binge of articles and mental strain trying, for the hundredth time, to chase the nebulous perfect writing environment.
Thankfully, now out on the other side, I was able to avoid falling all the way into the Emacs hole.
I have stuck with my main editor, Helix, and have made some changes to my config, but ultimately not much has changed.
My biggest takeaway from this experience is to just make what you have work.
I discovered I'm not the biggest fan of modal editors, but it was much easier to make Helix be less modal than it was to learn a whole new editor.
I let a few small points of friction send me down a rabbit hole. Instead of smoothing out the rough edges that were causing some mild pain, I tried to abandon all I had built in search of greener grass.
I needed to trust my past self's decisions that led me to Helix in the first place. I've already done the search a million times. Who am I to think that this time will lead anywhere different?
It's insanity.
Some blame needs to go to the instant gratification needs we have been programmed with, but that programming isn't really all that strong if we can just take a moment to step back and look at the problem with a little wider lens.
I think it is vitally important that we learn to be content with what we have and put in the work to craft what we have into what we need instead of constantly seeking the new and fresh thing that constantly feeds us empty promises of nirvana.
Nirvana comes by taking one step forward from where the past has brought us, not from abandoning all ancestral knowledge in want of novelty.
~ V