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My focus today was not great, but what better way to practice writing as a pro than doing so under less-than-ideal conditions? Today’s exercise was to make two columns, Words I Like and Words I Hate, and write as many of each as possible. I wrote down an identical amount in each column, but this is incredibly deceiving because I got hung up on trying to think of words that I don’t like. The problem: since I don’t like them, my brain has apparently deemed it unnecessary to remember them. That storage is instead used for obscure ‘90s NBA players.

In both lists, I also included names and phrases. Succession character Tom Wambsgans has a great name to say, as does former NFL running back Tim Biakabutuka. On the flip side, “hope this helps” is one of my least favorite comment section phrases. As is “casual.” The back-to-back selection of “moist” and “colon” was unfortunate, but there’s nothing we can do about it now. “Xylophone” was my very first least favorite word. It tripped me up constantly when I was learning to read because the letter “x” is completely pointless.

Other patterns I noticed were that I enjoy words that make me feel good. Words I hate sometimes have a weird textural component to them. I either don’t like their literal texture or saying them makes my mouth feel funny. I’d dive deeper into both of these things if I could afford therapy.

Speaking of that, through just 2 days of exercises, I’ve begun to feel self-conscious about my own abilities. Am I an idiot? Can I actually write? Why have these seemingly basic exercises exhausted my brain so much? This is self-doubt, which is entirely pointless. The point of exercises is to challenge you. Clare pretty much says that. This is not a mindset I carry over to the gym. It’s just a weird insecurity that I must stamp out. And I will. Enjoy the picture below, and I’ll see you tomorrow.