“Most of our faculties lie dormant because they can rely upon Habit, which knows what there is to be done and has no need of their services.” (Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time) For Marcel Proust, habit is the force that conditions bodies to certain modes of life and prevents people from accessing meaningful existence. Proust’s novel In Search of Lost Time is a literary attempt to save life from the decay of habit. Whether through enjoying a moment of madeleines and tea o

If you religiously read Watershed (LIKE I DO) then you’re probably aware of many recent aspects of U.S. politics and society that can be loosely (neutrally) described as “thought provoking.” As we collectively tell ourselves: “This is not normal. THIS is not normal. THIS is NOT normal. THIS IS NOT NORMAL,” a question gets begged: what is “normal”? Sometimes the idea of normalcy gets paraded around without thorough consideration of the power and assumption wielded behind the t