February 5th, 2026

Start Small

Start small with a habit, like you're whispering a secret to yourself that you don't even want to wind to pick up on, 
lest a small breeze carry it to the dark side of your heart
where you will once again hear the endless tirade, listing your failed attempts of all the years.

Start small with a habit.
Embrace the five minutes while the tea steeps,
where it can be hardly noticed and wholly purposeful.

Start small, 
even while the dishes calling from the sink and the blankets sit askew.
Even while the counter shines with sticky and the scissors are left not put away.

Start small with a habit
leave it small if you must.
Let it begin to feel like stolen time, precious time,
time taken for you, by you,
unnoticeable in its effort on the day.

Start small, until a ripple begins to stir the chambers of your heart, 
and creates an opening, an understanding
that if left small enough, noncommittal enough,
this small habit will render everything else that used to fill that sliver of time useless.

And then, only then, will it unwind the time,
breeze past the insufficiencies of your discipline
and perhaps, just perhaps, 

change your whole life. 

Start small.