Frequently the refrain from Herman’s Hermits’ “I’m Henry The Eighth, I Am” rifles through my head, “Second verse, same as the first.” At this point in my life those words exist more as a mantra than a joyous call to do it all again. In fact, rarely does either what task/obstacle emerges on the path, plops itself down onto the pile, matter, or how excited I am about the project. The reality of all of these endeavors is that I, undoubtedly, will need a second, often even a third, verse before I manage to complete the task.
Perhaps my reliance on a “second verse” is a habit, perhaps a curse, or perhaps that is just me, plain old ordinary, procrastinating me. Nothing new under that sun, folks, I assure you. Still, I do give myself credit for being slightly stubborn because I come back to the backlog time and time again (fully stubborn would have already decimated the pile at this point).
And in the spirit of full disclose, I did indeed tick a few items off of the backlog list. I finished World of Final Fantasy, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Storm Front, Full Moon, Wizard’s Apprentice, The Dark Tower Vols 1-4, Dark Souls, and a bunch of comics (Batman, JLA, JLA:Dark, Savage Avengers, etc.), and a few paintings. Clearly, I kept working, but not to the degree to which I wanted, to a degree that would pacify my mind.
Do those items count? Sure they do. And I will write them down towards the task, write up some thoughts, etc., and keep moving. However, what I really want is consistency. Perhaps “constancy” would be a better form. I want to continually work towards the goal—not just from time to time.
I have already surrendered to the idea that the pile will never be empty, but I would like to be more focused on trying to reduce it anyway. There are things to learn, ideas to have, stories to get upset over, to fall in love with, to just experience. And the only way I get to experience those things is to work on the backlog. To keep ticking off things on the pile. No more, no less.
So I commit to try, again. Second verse, same as the first, right? And maybe, just maybe, this time it will work.
A. D. Bowen 