Killing Complacency

Riding the New York subway several years ago, I noticed Barnes and Noble had these wonderful ads called "Poetry in Motion". What's greater for a poet than to read poetry on the subway in New York City! One poem has stuck with me all this time and I think of it in relation to complacency. The line that has repeated in my brain over and over, somewhat ironically, is "Beware of things in duplicate." Here is a link to the entire poem: http://www.geocities.com/FragileSummit/poetry/subway/beware.htm
It is truly one of my favorites.

This poem reminds me of how routine robs us of the awareness of time passing. Complacency makes us live the same day over and over until one day, you look in the mirror, surprised that you are twenty years older. Creativity is one of the best ways to combat complacency as is awareness. All forms of art break through complacency. The newness, though, brings fear and that is why people hold on to routines for so long. Complacency is safe and many times, people will hide behind aspects of their life to keep the routine. So, in the immortal words of Randy Jackson, "Keep it Fresh!"