The power of habit.

When we speak about being absent from our own lives, or from certain parts of them, I keep coming back to one question: What is the force that carries us through each day?

It is a collection of small habits. Repeated actions, familiar thoughts, automatic responses, little movements of the mind and body that, over time, begin to determine the direction of our lives. We repeat them so often that we stop questioning them. They become our way of moving through the world, even when they slowly carry us away from what our hearts truly desire.

This is why I believe we must learn to observe our habits. To look honestly at the small things we do every day and recognize which ones bring us closer to our deepest intentions, and which ones quietly lead us elsewhere.

When I began this project, one of my intentions was to identify the habits that were disconnecting me from my own life and, one by one, begin to move against them. Sometimes, all it takes is a split-second decision. A moment in which I interrupt the inertia that would ordinarily carry me through an automatic action and choose something different. Something that brings more presence, more meaning, more fulfilment into my experience of being alive.

And this is why I am speaking about habit today.

Throughout this project, I have documented the new actions I introduced into my days to help me return home to my life. But, I did not practise these things only on the days I wrote about them. I carried them forward. Most of them became part of every day.

Every day, I blessed the tasks I performed and the objects I interacted with. Every day, I took a moment to contemplate what a precious, limited gift it is to be here, alive, with the opportunity to experience this world. I had soulful conversations about this project, allowing myself to open my heart and share what was happening within me. And every day, I made a conscious decision to show up more fully in my own existence, even in the smallest things.

I refused to brush my teeth while my mind wandered somewhere else. I refused to eat without tasting my food, lost in thoughts or conversations that pulled me away from the experience itself. Even drinking a glass of water became an opportunity to return to the present moment. As much as I could, I chose to move through my life with intention, bringing my awareness into the actions that had once carried me almost unconsciously.

And today, we have reached the one-week mark since this project took its clear form.

I have to admit, it feels as though an eternity has passed since it began.

Today, I feel amazing. I have this quiet sense of peace, fulfilment. A new kind of presence has begun to awaken in my life, and with it comes a new relationship with existence itself.

For the first time in a long while, I feel that I can simply relax into this experience.

In the beginning, there was a certain urgency within me. Something was moving me towards this goal, pushing me to examine my life and search for the changes I needed to make. I was determined to find my way back to myself. And now, having experienced a different way of being, having discovered a new point of perception, I feel that I can soften. I can breathe. I can allow myself to enjoy what I have already begun to cultivate.

Today, I wanted to pause and truly look at the changes that have taken place.

There is something fascinating about transformation. We often expect it to arrive in a dramatic moment, through a powerful realization or an experience that divides our lives into a before and an after. Such moments are easy to recognize. They announce themselves.

But some of the deepest changes happen quietly. They arrive in increments so small that we barely notice them. A little more patience. A little more awareness. A moment of genuine connection where there would once have been distraction. A familiar situation approached with a different state of mind.

And because these changes happen gradually, we can easily overlook how far we have travelled.

Sometimes, we need to stop and look back at the beginning of our journey. We need to remember how we felt, how we moved through our days, what occupied our minds, and how much of our lives we allowed to pass without truly experiencing them. Only then can we begin to appreciate the distance between who we were when we started and who we are becoming.

Small habits, repeated over time, have the power to create extraordinary transformations.

Every little action carries a direction. Every time we interrupt an old pattern and choose a more conscious response, we are casting a small vote for the person we wish to become. Every time we return our attention to the life unfolding before us, we strengthen our capacity to remain present within it.

And slowly, these individual moments begin to accumulate. They shape our perception. They influence the way we relate to ourselves, to other people, and to the world around us. Eventually, what once required a deliberate effort begins to feel more natural. What once seemed distant becomes part of our everyday experience.

This is the quiet power of habit: it transforms our lives from within, often long before we recognize the magnitude of what is happening.

But here comes the trap.

When the first results appear, there is a temptation to believe that we have arrived. We feel better, we recognize the difference, and we allow ourselves to loosen our commitment. We begin to abandon the very actions that brought us here, assuming that the change will remain simply because we have experienced it.

But a new state of being also needs to be nurtured.

If today, feeling so good, I were to abandon everything I have practised and return to my old habits, I would gradually lose the very presence I have worked to cultivate. The familiar patterns would begin to reclaim their place, and the distance between myself and my life could grow again.

The goal is not simply to experience a beautiful state of consciousness. It is to learn how to live from it, to nourish it through the choices I make every day, and to allow it to become a more enduring part of who I am.

So I will continue.

I will continue to bless the small things that make up my life. I will continue to invite death as my wise advisor, allowing the awareness of life’s finitude to remind me of the preciousness of each moment. I will continue to work with my heart, to remain open towards people, towards life, towards existence itself.

And I will continue to observe.

I want to discover every little habit that pulls me away from my deepest intention. Every automatic response that closes me off from life. Every unnecessary distraction that takes me out of the present moment. I want to recognize these patterns with honesty and patience, and meet each one with the freedom to choose differently.

One moment at a time. One habit at a time. One conscious return at a time.

The power of habit is the power to shape the direction of our lives. And when we bring our deepest intention into the habits we practise every day, we begin to shape a life that reflects what our hearts have been asking for all along.