Softly Going

Recently I noticed that the almost ubiquitous "to do" of list fame is a homophone for the French "tout doux" which translates back into English as "all soft". It also reminded me of the kinship between French and Italian: where the French would say "doucement" or gently, the Italian would say "piano" or slowly. English would say "gently" or more often "careful".

It strikes me that to accomplish all on a to do list one must go gently and apply slow methodic action in order not to be overwhelmed. That is going slow is in effect speeding up. Also purposely slowing down requires discipline (it's the opposite of going soft; it requires rigour) and that this is the secret of successfully accomplishing all that may pile up on a to do list. Softly, step by step...

And so for day 1070
17.11.2009