A Slave to Habit
A short reflection inspired by Martha Medeiros on routine, curiosity, risk, and the effort required to feel alive.
The original post shared a poem attributed to Brazilian writer Martha Medeiros. Rather than reproduce a full translation here, I want to preserve the reason it mattered to me.
Its subject is the slow erosion caused by habit: walking the same paths, avoiding unfamiliar people, abandoning passion, and choosing certainty every time a dream asks us to take a risk. It contrasts the simple fact of breathing with the much harder work of being fully alive.
The message is not that routine is always wrong. It is that routine becomes dangerous when it closes every door to curiosity—when we stop travelling, reading, listening, asking questions, accepting help, or beginning projects because failure feels possible.
The thought I wanted to keep was simple: a meaningful life requires effort, patience, and a willingness to be changed by what we do not yet know.
— Inspired by A Morte Devagar by Martha Medeiros