Words

Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy—the mad daughter of a wise mother. These daughters have too long dominated the earth.
–Voltaire [François Marie Arouet] (1694-1778)

Nuggets of good advice fall unexpectedly from unlikely places. I remember idling listening to a TV talkshow playing on the bus a few years ago, when the hosts turned to ask famous singer about his warm-up ritual before performances. He answered that while most of his colleagues in the theatre probably did, he had learnt from an old vocal coach not to come to rely on a specific ritual.

That got me thinking. Athletes are another bunch prone to ritualised supersitions. Tiger Woods wears red on Sundays, Michael Jordan has his lucky underwear, Steven Gerrard touches the Anfield emblem on the way to pitch.

And while I claim not to be a superstitious person, come every examination period, I clutch my lucky pen, swig that bottle of chicken’s essence and practically kiss my lucky charm themed Swatch. (Really, when you study as little I do, one can’t afford to pass on any available luck.)

But what this singer had said struck me, inasmuch as it made me realise that while many superstitions don’t hurt, relying on them creates a psychological dependency which might become a threat rather than an aid. If my lucky pen had fallen apart during the exam, I’d probably pengsan.

And habitual behaviours are alarmingly easy to pick up. If something served you well, up one karmic point. If you wore this while getting dumped, banished to karmic negative infinity. Nobody should deny themselves a positive plecebo effect (familiar ways do help to calm and focus), but the day you start assigning magical significance to a ritual, you’ve stepped into superstitious territory.

So since that day on the bus, I’ve firmly tried to stop obvious neutroticism. No lucky shoes for interviews, no special way to pack my equipment before a game, no unique practises before flights.

And on a larger scale, don’t let fear grow. If you fall down, get up and do the same damn thing again. And again, and again till you conquer it. The longer you wait to deal with a challenge or problem, the bigger it seems in your mind.

But having said all this, I’m still going to touch wood when speaking about deaths and illnesses. :)